Sonic Riders: Ultimate Tournament Revised
by SupergamerGreg79
Summary: An Extreme Gear tournament has been called. Everyone wants to win, but that's not going to be easy for anyone. 30 racers, 10 teams, 1 champion. Edited to fall within guidelines. COMPLETED!
1. Registration

SupergamerGreg79 brings you a new story.

This story is a Sonic Riders tournament. Hope you enjoy.

Note: This story was once deleted because one of the administrators said that the story violated guidelines, so I'm editing the violations, provided there were any (and I think there were some), and the story will return.

**Ch. 1: Registration.**

It was a sunny day in Station Square. The sport registration hall was very busy handling registrations for a recently announced Extreme Gear tournament. A lot of people were there, waiting to see who all decide to sign up.

Off to the side, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were watching to see what competition they might have. Sonic had the Blue Star, Tails had the Yellow Tail, and Knuckles had the Red Rock. Across from them were Jet, Wave, and Storm, known in the tournament as Team Babylon. Jet had the Wind Rider, Wave had the Typhoon, and Storm had the Hurricane. They looked at Team Sonic, knowing that they would be top notch competitors. An announcement came up over the loudspeakers.

"Will the 30 racers that signed up please report to the Station Square Arena for introductions?" The announcement said.

"Looks like it's time for the opening ceremonies." Sonic said, excited.

"I look forward to a great tournament." Jet told Sonic, remembering their friendly rivalry.

"Same for me." Sonic replied.

**End of this so called "Chapter 1".**

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.


	2. The Teams Are Introduced

It's time for the teams to be introduced.

I thank everyone who sent in a team for the tournament. I took them into consideration, thought about how they would do, and imagined them competing against others. Now I have come to a decision.

The teams that made it will be announced in the chapter.

**Chapter 2: The Teams Are Introduced.**

The 10 teams made their way into the center of Station Square Arena, where the teams would be introduced, and where the preliminaries would take place. Teams Sonic and Babylon looked at the other 8 teams that would be competing in the tournament.

"It looks like we have some tough competition. I can't wait." Sonic said, excited.

"It doesn't matter. I'll win anyway." Jet remarked.

"No way. I'll win." Sonic argued. The two started arguing over who would win the tournament when the introductions began.

"And now, it's time for the team introductions." The announcer said on the speakers.

Everyone quieted down.

"First up is Team Sonic. This team consists of Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna."

Team Sonic made their way to the center. Sonic (age 15) had the Blue Star, Tails (age 9) had the Yellow Tail, and Knuckles (age 16) had the Red Rock.

"Second to enter is Team Babylon, consisting of Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross."

Team Babylon went to the center. Jet (14) had the Wind Rider, Wave (age 15) had the Typhoon, and Storm (age 17) had the Hurricane.

"Next up is Team Berserker. This team is made up of Armand the Tiger, Basil the Fox, and Axel the Boar."

Armand was a 17-year old purple tiger with matching eyes, blue armor, black pants, black shoes, and white gloves. He had a futuristic scanner, communicator with radar, and a watch that could fire lasers, translate ancient text, or anything but tell time. His board was called the Crimson Laser.

Basil was a 16-year old orange fox with green eyes, a gray leather shirt, blue shorts, black gloves, and brown shoes. He had a water cannon that could form a water lasso for flight. His board was the Aqua Blast.

Axel was an 18-year old brown boar with red eyes, red armor, brown gloves and shoes, and blue pants. He was big and muscular, which showed he was a power type. His board was called the Crusher.

Team Berserker took places beside Team Sonic.

"Next in the competition is Team Virtex. This team is made up of Rector Rose, Raine the Butterfly, and Howl the Wolf."

Rector was a 17-year old red hedgehog, and Amy's older brother. He had six quills pointing down, black shoes with 2 white straps going across them, two steel ring bracelets on his wrists, and white gloves that had 2 black kanji symbols. One represented strength, the other represented heart. He had the board called the Wild Thorn.

Raine was an 8-year white butterfly with ocean blue wings. Her shirt, shorts, and sneakers were all red. She had a light blue jacket. She carried her board, the Graceful Wing.

Howl was a 19-year old gray wolf with black markings over his eyes. He wore a black sleeveless gi with a gray belt and black sandals. Strapped to his belt was a samurai sword in a sheath. He called his board the Silent Hunter.

Team Virtex made their way to the center and stood across from Team Berserker.

"Next up is Team Legendary, consisting of Zeus the Hedgehog, Mintra the Rabbit, and Hurricane the Echidna."

Zeus was a 34-year old sky blue hedgehog, and Sonic's dad. He had the same running shoes and gloves as Sonic. He carried a katana with a sky blue hilt. The sword was adorned with cobalt swirls. The sheath was a blue color. His board was called the Blue Storm.

Mintra was a green colored rabbit (forgot the age), as well as Cream's dad. He wore white gloves, and his boots had white lines going down the middle. He called his board the Emerald Shooter.

Hurricane was a 34-year old gray echidna with normal shoes and gloves, which were wind resistant, gray eyes, and black markings on his dreadlocks, arms, and legs. His board was called the Massive Whirlwind.

They stood beside Team Berserker.

"Our next team is Team Triple Threat. They consist of Alexander the Snake, Charlie the Bear, and Domino the Fox."

Alexander was a 19-year old snake with a human-like body, brown scales with black spots, a tail, yellow eyes, a gray trench coat, and black boots. He called his board the Poison.

Charlie was a 21-year old brown bear. He wore no gloves, but had claws. He wore blue shoes. His board was the Power House.

Domino was a 16-year old red fox with white chest fur, blue eyes, a black jacket engraved with his name on the back, red shoes, white gloves, and black sunglasses. His board was called the Other Side.

They stood across from Team Legendary.

"Our next team is called Team Dynamic, made up of Galeon the Blue Jay, Nightscream the Falcon, and Rampage the Robin."

Galeon was a 14-year old blue jay who wore samurai clothing and had 2 katanas and some throwing stars. He called his board the Wind Demon.

Nightscream was an 11-year old black falcon wearing a Babylonian medallion. His board was the Nightwing.

Rampage was a 20-year old red robin with black areas on his body like all robins. He had the board called the Flaming Sting.

They stood beside Team Legendary.

"Next team is Team Star. They are made up of Emily Leot the Cheetah, Alan the Tiger, and Vash the Wolf."

Emily Leot was a 16-year old cheetah with blue hair and eyes, yellow fur with black spots (what else would you expect), white gloves with blue square patches, a white tank top, light blue jeans, white shoes with blue gem circles on the sides. A blue gem was embedded in her stomach. Her board was called the Blue Striker.

Alan was an 11-year old red/black striped tiger with a silver jetpack for flight, purple eyes, blue goggles, and dark blue fingerless gloves. He called his board the Tiger Stripe.

Vash was a 17-year old silver colored wolf with blue eyes, white chest fur, blue sunglasses, and a diamond in his forehead. His board was called the Avalanche.

They took a place across from Team Dynamic.

"Only two teams left. First is Team Music, made up of Cloud the Bluebird, Angie the Toucan, and Shaun the Bluebird."

Cloud was a 13-year old bluebird with gold/blond hair in a ponytail, blue eyes, a black T-shirt, blue jeans, black shoes, and a gold locket with an M imprint. She called her board the Sound Wave. She was Jet's sister.

Angie was a 14-year old toucan with a smaller-than-average beak, dark red flames on wrists as a Babylonian symbol, 3 feathers on the back of her head, a body that attracted Jet's attention, a white T-shirt with white shoes and cut-off jeans. Her board was the Fire Streak.

Shaun was a 20-year old bluebird with yellow eyes, spiky blond hair, white marks around the eyes, a red T-shirt, semi-baggy jeans, and black shoes. He called his board the Changing Flow. He was Jet and Cloud's older brother.

They stood by Team Dynamic.

"And our last team is Team Velocity. They consist of Velocity the Rabbit, Inertia the Bat, and Liikumine the Mouse."

Velocity was a 14-year old gray rabbit with short gray hair, a bunny tail (don't rabbits always have one?), dark blue eyes, light purple tube top, light purple/white boots, gloves, and black goggles. She called her board the Lucky Star.

Inertia was a 15-year old light blue bat. She wore a pale yellow dress, white/gray boots, and fingerless white gloves. Her board was called the Roundhouse.

Liikumine was a 12-year old mouse with white fur, a teal shirt and skirt, and shoes with a white stripe down the middle. Her board was called Ms. Smiley.

They stood across from Team Music.

"And these are the 10 teams."

Everyone applauds for the 10 teams that made it.

"Remember one thing: The 5 teams that pass the preliminaries will make it to the main tournament. Now that the teams have been introduced, the first match-up will be determined by our randomizer." The announcer told the audience. "And the first match-up will be…"

The randomizer shuffled the teams. The faces were Sonic, Jet, Armand, Rector, Zeus, Alexander, Galeon, Emily Leot, Cloud, and Velocity. The randomizer on the left stopped on Sonic, and the right stopped on Jet.

"…Team Sonic vs. Team Babylon." The announcer concluded.

"Looks like we're up first, Jet." Sonic said.

"Let's make it a good race." Jet replied.

"Will the two teams please report to the starting gate?" The announcer requested.

**End of Chapter 2.**

Team Sonic vs. Team Babylon. Who will win? Find out in the next chapter.

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.


	3. Team Sonic vs Team Babylon

It's time for the tournament to begin.

The teams have already been announced, and the first two teams are about to kick off the preliminaries.

The first round is…

**Chapter 3: Sonic vs. Babylon**

"Will the two teams please report to the starting gate?" The announcer requested.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Jet, Wave, and Storm took a spot at the 50 m line.

"Ready to race, Jet?" Sonic asked.

"If you mean win, then yes, I am." Jet remarked.

"Let's see who has better skills, Shorty." Wave told Tails.

"Don't worry. He will." Tails replied, obviously referring to himself.

"Time to settle the score from last time." Storm said to Knuckles.

"Any time, you meathead." Knuckles answered.

The countdown started. Sonic and Jet moved back, wanting to get a fast start. Tails and Wave slowly moved forward, wanting to cross as soon as the electric gate faded. Knuckles and Storm just stood there, waiting to dash towards the start.

3…Sonic and Jet started towards the start.

2…Knuckles did a quick feint, causing Storm to start before him.

1…Tails and Wave were a few feet away from the gate.

BZZZT!!

The feint committed by Knuckles caused Storm to start before him, and he hit the electric gate just before it shut off. Sonic and Jet passed him by as they hopped on their boards to start the race. Wave and Tails got on their boards as they passed him.

"See ya at the finish, meathead." Knuckles called as he left the start.

The race had started. The track in the arena was a twisted desert-like oval with a few curves on the straight sections and a loop in the middle. A few shortcuts had been placed. A couple of grind rails for the speeders, a set of accelerator rings for flying types, and a barricaded tunnel for the power players. After the race, the track would change shape.

Sonic and Jet leapt off of the first ramp and performed tricks. Sonic landed ahead of Jet and started to get a good lead until…

"AH-CHOO!"

Jet had sneezed on Sonic and slowed him down.

"Man, now I'll need a bath after this. And I hate water." Sonic complained.

Jet now had the lead. He came up on a light slalom and took it like the board master he was. He came up on a tight turn and performed an air slide to get by. He was just about to boost to gain a bigger lead until…

"HERE I COME!!!"

Sonic had caught up and yelled in Jet's face.

"So you want to play hardball, eh? Well, two can play at that game." Jet remarked.

He then got a capsule that held 30 rings, sending him to level 2. Jet boosted to Sonic and attacked.

"Eat this!" Jet had pulled out one of his fans and swung it at Sonic, suddenly sending him forward, then slowing him down.

A little ways back, Tails was battling Wave for the 3rd spot. Tails boosted and pulled out a plug, which he used on Wave. The shock slowed Wave down for a couple of seconds. Wave regained her balance and sped up. Tails was confident. Up ahead he could see Sonic and Jet battle for the lead. Tails was about to help his friend when…

"How about this!?" Wave said and hit Tails with her wrench.

"Ow. That hurt. I'll get you!!" Tails called as Wave flew by.

Fortunately for Tails, there was a 100 ring capsule nearby. He picked it up and went to level 3 instantly. He caught up to Wave and shocked her with his upgraded plug.

"How's this!?" Tails yelled as the plug hit Wave and burnt her to a crisp. This effectively stalled her for a while. Knuckles and Storm passed by her as she returned to normal.

Knuckles and Storm were constantly tossing punches at each other, hoping to stop the other. Knuckles roared in Storm's face while Storm clapped his hands and tried to flatten Knuckles. Both attacks worked. They were now even further behind. Knuckles broke away from Storm and hit a 30 ring capsule, sending him to level 2. Storm did the same, then boosted ahead of Knuckles. Storm was about to enter the barricaded shortcut when…

"Gotcha. SCREW PUNCH!!" Knuckles yelled as he hit Storm hard and screwed him up, literally. Apparently he had reached level 3 by picking up some rings. As Storm began to unwind from his predicament, Knuckles started to gain a lead over him.

Sonic and Jet had just crossed the start/finish line to begin lap two. Wave passed Knuckles and Storm and caught up to Tails. She was at level 3 by this time. She planted a bomb on the Yellow Tail and hit the detonator. The board blew up and Tails was burnt to a crisp as Wave passed by.

"See ya, Shorty." She called as she moved on.

Tails returned to his normal, non-burnt self.

Sonic and Jet were still fighting for the lead. They both hit the grind rail and sped around the corner. Both of them were at level 3. Sonic and Jet tried to attack each other, but the force of both of them attacking caused them to be pushed back.

"Stand still and let me pound you." Jet said.

"Not a chance." Sonic replied.

Jet decided to let Sonic gain a little lead. He hit the air brake for a second. It wasn't long, but Sonic got ahead. Jet then attacked.

"Know the power of Babylon!" Jet said as he pulled out his two paper fans and spun in an upward motion, literally screwing Sonic up.

As he unscrewed himself, he saw Jet go through the loop. Sonic got a speed boost capsule and caught up to Jet. Sonic stayed behind him as two rows of capsules came up. Jet got an air refill and a 10 ring packet. Sonic got two 20 ring packets, which brought him up to level 2. He boosted towards Jet and spin-dashed into him, making him shoot forward, then stopping him. Sonic passed by.

"See ya later, Jet." Sonic called as he passed the start/finish to begin lap three.

"Get back here, hedgehog." Jet yelled.

Tails was still battling Wave as they crossed into their third lap. They had stopped attacking each other and just focused on outracing each other.

"Think you can beat me on that piece of junk?" Wave asked Tails.

"I don't see your board doing any better." Tails retaliated.

"TAKE THAT BACK!!!" Wave yelled.

Wave went on the attack, hitting Tails with her wrench. Tails knew she was at level 2; otherwise she wouldn't have used that attack. He also saw a red trail coming out the back of her board. Green was level 1, red was level 2, and blue was level 3. Every racer knew that a blue trail was a bad sign. If anyone were to be attacked by someone with a blue trail on the last lap, it usually meant you lose the race. Being burnt to a crisp was the worst, because you could be stalled for at least 5 seconds.

Tails recovered and saw Wave going around the sharp turn. He followed her and they resumed their little "battle".

Knuckles and Storm were almost to the first sharp turn on their third lap. Knuckles was at level 3, and Storm was about to be. Knuckles was ahead of Storm, but it didn't last long. Storm reached level 3 by picking up rings, and attacked. Storm's two-fist smash left Knuckles stunned for a few seconds. When Knuckles recovered, Storm had already taken the first turn and was already at the loop. Knuckles would have to race perfectly for any chance to win. He didn't have to wait long. Storm had gotten careless and his board ran out of air. As Storm started to look for an air pit, Knuckles rounded the turn and headed for the loop. Once he was through the loop, Storm had just topped off his air tank. The two resumed their battle.

Sonic and Jet were coming up on the finish line. Jet had the lead, and Sonic wasn't far behind. Sonic boosted and got ahead of Jet, and the two crossed the finish line. Sonic had won, but it wasn't over. Both knew that just one team member winning wouldn't do. The first team to cross would win. That meant that it was over once all 3 members of one team were across.

"I won the race, Jet." Sonic told him.

"It's not over yet." Jet replied.

Tails and Wave had just rounded the final turn and were coming to the finish. Tails was at level 2 and attacked Wave. Unfortunately, the forward force pushed Wave across the line before him.

"Two down, one to go." Wave said.

"Knuckles won't let us down." Tails remarked.

It was down to Knuckles and Storm, both of them rounding the final turn. They were neck-and-neck, or in this case, board-and-board. At the finish line, someone was waiting offside in the case that a photo finish was needed. They passed the finish line. It was so close that the photo needed to be taken. While the photo was being checked, the two teams started talking.

"Who do you think won?" Jet asked.

"We'll just have to wait until the photo has been developed." Tails told him.

"I haven't had this much fun since I was exiled a couple of months ago." Sonic said.

"We all remember that." Wave told them. "Don't we?"

"Exactly." Knuckles agreed.

The photo had just been checked, and the winner was ready to be announced.

"Alright, everyone. The photo has been checked. We will now reveal the winner." The announcer said. Everyone was on the edge of their seats.

"And the winner is…Team Sonic!"

The crowd went wild. Team Sonic had beaten Team Babylon.

"Looks like we won." Sonic said.

"I guess so." Jet admitted.

"You raced well, Shorty." Wave said.

"Thanks. And call me Tails." Tails told her.

"We'll be back next time." Storm told them.

"We'll be waiting." Knuckles said.

"Team Sonic will be moving on." The announcer told the viewers. "Now it's time for the next round. Our randomizer will choose the two teams. Next race is between…"

The randomizer started changing pictures. The left randomizer landed on Galeon, and the right landed on Velocity.

"…Team Dynamic vs. Team Velocity."

Galeon looked at Velocity.

"Looks like we're up." Galeon told her.

"Let's make it a good race." Velocity responded.

**End of Chapter 3.**

Next is Team Dynamic vs. Team Velocity. Who will win? Find out in the next chapter.

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.


	4. Team Dynamic vs Team Velocity

It's time for round two of the preliminaries.

In the first round, Team Sonic beat Team Babylon.

You may have noticed something that's out of place in the last chapter, in one of the Knuckles vs. Storm parts. Well, that's a plot twist. Read on.

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners. Sega owns Sonic and Co. I only own Team Berserker and this story.

The second round is between…

**Chapter 4: Dynamic vs. Velocity**

The first round of the preliminaries had been decided. Team Sonic had won against Team Babylon. It was time for the second round. But…

"Hold it, everyone." The announcer said. Everyone quieted down.

"While watching a replay of the recent race, a foul was detected."

Everyone turns towards the screen as the announcer continued.

"Knuckles of Team Sonic used a level 3 attack while at level 2. He did not have the rings needed to be at level 3. This is an illegal act and thus disqualifies Team Sonic from the tournament."

The crowd started booing Knuckles. Sonic and Tails started yelling.

"Knuckles, why did you do that!?" Sonic yelled.

"You got us disqualified from the tournament. You shouldn't have used that attack!" Tails added on.

"I just wanted to get back at Storm." Knuckles said, trying to bail out of the trouble he had just gotten into.

"That excuse isn't going to work, knucklehead." Sonic told him. He and Tails then dragged Knuckles out of the stadium.

"I guess he's in for it." Jet told his team.

"I hope he learns." Wave added.

As Knuckles was being dragged out, he saw Galeon, Nightscream, and Rampage, the 3 who made up Team Dynamic.

"Man, I never thought you would go as low as to do that." Galeon remarked.

"Why you! Get back here. Lemme at him. I'll crush him." Knuckles tried to escape, but Sonic and Tails held firm.

"You're not going anywhere, knucklehead." Sonic said as he and Tails dragged Knuckles into the stands to watch the rest of the preliminaries.

"Now that that's over, let's get back to the races. Team Dynamic vs. Team Velocity." The announcer continued.

Galeon, Nightscream, Rampage, Velocity, Inertia, and Liikumine took their places at the start line.

"Ready to lose, bunny rabbit?" Galeon asked.

"Not to a thief, birdbrain." Velocity responded.

"I'll win. You'll lose. So, why are you racing?" Rampage asked.

"Don't underestimate a bat girl." Inertia replied in a way that would make Rouge proud.

"Just three words of advice: Give up already." Nightscream told Liikumine.

"I don't need advice from a thief." Liikumine replied.

The countdown began. All six began moving backwards for a fast start.

3…2…1...The electric gate disappeared, signaling the start of the race.

Galeon and Velocity were the first out, followed by Nightscream and Liikumine, then Inertia and Rampage.

The track had changed from an oval-like shape to a triangle form. There were two back-to-back loops on the 2nd straightaway. There were a few sharp turns. The environment was still desert-like.

Galeon and Velocity were already speeding towards the first sharp turn. Galeon turned towards Velocity.

"Wind Dash." Galeon did a quick dash containing wind energy that slowed Velocity down. Galeon started to have the advantage. Then Velocity came out of nowhere and stuck her tongue out at him, startling him.

"Waaah!" Galeon was startled at Velocity's sudden attack.

"See ya, birdie." Velocity said, then giggled as she moved on ahead.

A little ways back, Nightscream and Liikumine, the flyers, were battling it out. Nightscream yelled in Liikumine's ear, causing her to lose focus. Nightscream sped on ahead until…

"HI!"

Liikumine shouted hi to Nightscream, spooking him.

"No way. You can't do that." Nightscream argued.

"I believe I just did." Liikumine replied.

Nightscream then picked up a 30-ring capsule, which sent him to level 2. He boosted and slapped Liikumine with his medallion. The attack sent her forward, then stopped her. Nightscream looked back.

"See ya, you little rat." He said.

Nightscream then caught up to Galeon and Velocity. He attacked Velocity with his medallion the same way he did with Liikumine. Galeon and Nightscream were now occupying the first two spots.

"I think we have it in the bag." Nightscream said with confidence.

"Don't get too excited. There are still two more laps, and if we want to win, we must finish before they do." Galeon cautioned.

They went through the loops. Velocity and Liikumine did the same. It wasn't long before Rampage and Inertia came up to it.

"I'll show you how to ride Extreme Gear." Rampage told Inertia.

"I've been riding since I was five. So back off." Inertia responded. Big mistake.

"NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!" Rampage yelled. He then glared at Inertia, making her lose balance. He didn't stop there. He picked up a 20-ring capsule, and he already had 15, so he went to level 2. He then punched the ground near Inertia, causing her to spin.

"Whoa. I'm dizzy." Inertia said in a daze.

"_Heh heh. Now I'll catch up to the others_." Rampage thought.

Just then, he lost his balance. Inertia had swerved over to him so close he lost focus.

"If you want to play hard, I can too." Rampage yelled at her.

He then saw the 100-ring capsule. He picked it up and shot to level 3 immediately. He caught up to Inertia.

"FIRE PUNCH!" Rampage called. He punched Inertia with fire, burning her to a crisp.

"Don't you know it's wrong to hit girls?" Inertia screamed as she returned to normal.

"I have no regrets. Besides, don't make me mad." Rampage called back.

He caught up to his team. From there, Team Velocity couldn't keep up. Team Dynamic worked with so much skill that there was no chance for their opponents to win. It remained that way for the other two laps. Or did it?

As Team Dynamic flew through the loops, they didn't see Team Velocity coming up until bubbles blocked Nightscream's vision, a roundhouse kick hit Rampage in the jaw, and Galeon's board was rammed. Velocity, Liikumine, and Inertia had caught up, and were at level 3. They got to level 3 when they were behind. As Team Dynamic recovered, Team Velocity rounded the final corner. They were about to win until Velocity was hit by two katanas, Liikumine was dazed by a supersonic screech, and Inertia was hit with a fire punch.

Team Dynamic had caught up, went to level 3 thanks to six 30-ring capsules (two to each), and did the same thing that Team Velocity had done to them. Galeon crossed the finish line first, followed by Nightscream and then Rampage.

"And in a last-effort move, Team Dynamic wins." The announcer told the audience, who went wild.

Galeon, Nightscream, and Rampage then left for the stands to watch the rest of the preliminaries. Team Velocity just left.

"Now, the second round is over. Our next race will be between…"

The randomizers started up. The left one stopped on Armand, the right one stopped on Emily Leot.

"…Team Berserker vs. Team Star."

Armand and Emily Leot looked at each other.

"I hope you put up some good competition." Armand told Emily.

"Same to you." Emily replied.

**End of Chapter 4.**

Team Dynamic moves on with Team Babylon. Two teams of Rogues will be competing against each other along with 3 more teams. Who will they be?

If you look at one of the Knuckles vs. Storm parts in the last chapter, you'll notice that Knuckles reached level 2, then hit Storm with a level 3 attack. It then said that he had reached level 3 somehow. That was the trick sentence. He never did reach level 3.

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.


	5. Team Berserker vs Team Star

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners. Sega owns Sonic and Co. I own Team Berserker and this story.

Ready for the next round?

The previous round with Team Dynamic vs. Team Velocity, with Dynamic winning the race.

The next round is between…

**Chapter 5: Berserker vs. Star.**

The 3rd round of the preliminaries were about to start. Teams Babylon and Dynamic were moving on, so it was time to see who would join them.

"Will the racers please take their positions at the start line?" The announcer requested.

Armand, Basil, Axel, Emily Leot, Alan, and Vash took their positions.

"Just so you know, even though you're a girl, I'm not holding back." Armand told Emily.

"From someone like you, I would expect no less." Emily replied.

"Ready to race?" Alan asked Basil.

"When you're ready." Basil told him.

"I expect a good race." Vash said to Axel.

"I won't disappoint you." Axel responded.

The countdown began. Armand and Emily backed up for a dash start, Alan and Basil waited for a sprint start, and Vash and Axel slowly ran up to the line.

3…Armand and Emily started towards it.

2…Alan and Basil started running.

1…Vash and Axel were close to it.

GO!!

All six racers started at the same time. The track had changed from a triangle to the oval that Teams Sonic and Babylon raced on, except it had two loops, one on each straightaway, and the turns now had 3 curves each to get through. The desert setting remained.

Armand and Emily took an early lead, followed by Alan and Basil, then Vash and Axel.

Up front, Armand and Emily were trying to knock each other off of their boards. It wasn't working out for them. Emily fell back a little, allowing Armand to get a lead. She then kicked the booster. She roared in Armand's face, slowing him down. Armand recovered, kicked his booster, caught up to Emily, and snapped his fingers in her face.

Behind them, Basil and Alan were having their own battle, trying to pass one another. Alan tossed a thunder bubble while Basil fired a water beam. Both attacks hit, and both racers were slowed down. Vash and Axel sped past them as they recovered.

Axel and Vash were trying to attack one another. But when one attacked, the other moved out of the way. After their last attempt, Vash attacked, but Axel moved out of the way. Vash then swerved towards Axel, and growled at him, catching him off guard. Axel then recovered, boosted up to Vash, and kicked him with his knee, slowing him down.

Armand and Emily were coming to the first loop on the straightaway. As they went through, they boosted to keep up their speed. Armand accidentally attacked Emily at this time, causing her to lose her grip. Armand reacted and caught her, then got her back on her board.

"Thanks, Armand." Emily said.

"Sorry I attacked. That wasn't on purpose." Armand apologized.

They went through the loop, and approached the first 3-curve turn. Armand used an Air Slide to get past it, while Emily rode the trail of turbulence he left behind. Axel, Vash, Alan, and Basil caught up, and followed the turbulence. Now that they were through the turn, Axel and Vash attacked Emily and Armand, respectively, and took the top two positions. Alan and Basil managed to get by. Emily and Armand were now in the last two spots.

Up front, Axel and Vash were once again battling it out. Both had reached level 2 by this time. They both unleashed a punch that spun both of them forward, then slowed them down, allowing Basil and Alan to take the lead.

Basil and Alan were also at level 2. Basil went on the offensive and attacked Alan with his Aqua Slash, in which he slashed his opponent with his water sword. Alan slowed down after the hit, then hit a 30-ring capsule, bringing him back to level 2. Alan caught up to Basil and attacked him with a thunder kick. This stopped Basil for a couple of seconds.

In the back, Emily and Armand were trying to get back up to the lead positions. They didn't attack each other, for they were focused on taking back the lead.

"Will we ever get back up front?" Armand asked Emily.

"I hope so. But I wonder who will win." Emily replied.

"We'll just find out at the end." Armand told her.

Armand and Emily were in the back until lap two, when they caught up to the power types. Axel and Vash were at level 3 at this point, and attacked each other.

"FROZEN WOLF FANG!" Vash called.

"SPIRAL UPPERCUT!" Axel called.

The two attacks hit. Vash was screwed up, literally, while Axel had fallen off of his board, cold. They recovered, but Armand and Emily had passed them.

Up front, Alan and Basil had reached level 3. They attacked.

"HYDRO BLASTER!" Basil called out.

"ELECTRIC SPIKE!" Alan shouted.

The water from the Hydro Blaster attack made Alan trip, while the Electric Spike left Basil burned to a crisp.

Armand and Emily went by, then decided to continue their little battle. Before doing so, they passed the loop where Emily almost fell last time. If she had fallen, she would have fallen out of the loop and been out of the race. Armand had saved her because if he hadn't, he would have been disqualified for attacking in a loop, which was strictly against the rules due to safety standards, and that would have disqualified the whole team. Because he had saved her, there would be no penalty.

Once through the loop and the 3-curve turn, they started their little battle again, while at level 3. They attacked at the same time.

"MEGA LASER!" Armand shouted.

"ENERGY CLAW!" Emily called out.

Armand was left dizzy while Emily was burnt to a crisp. They both felt bad for attacking one another at such high levels, but they didn't mind, since they said they wouldn't hold back.

The race went on like that until halfway through lap three. The speeders were in the lead, the flying types were behind them, and the power players were in the rear. Armand and Emily were battling it out, Alan and Basil were trying to outrace each other, and Vash and Axel tried attacking each other. They were using the same tactics they used at the start. After the final 3-curve turn, the finish line was in sight. Emily sped by first, followed by Armand, Basil, and then Alan.

It was between Vash and Axel. They were now trying to finish before the other. A photo finish would be needed. The photographer stood by.

Axel and Vash crossed the finish line as the photograph was snapped.

"Looks like it was too close to call." Armand said.

"Yes, it is. I don't know who won." Emily admitted.

"Well, we just have to wait until the photo comes out." Alan told them.

"It's times like these that nearly kill me out of suspense." Basil said to Vash.

"Well, just be glad I didn't kill you with my attacks." Vash said rudely.

"Knock it off, Vash." Axel told him.

The announcer came out with the results.

"It's time to announce the winner."

Everyone quieted down.

"The winner is…Team Berserker by an inch."

The photo came up and showed Axel's board about one inch ahead of Vash's. The crowd roared as this race was the most intense to them.

Vash just looked on, Alan took it easy, and Emily looked unhappy. Armand walked over to her and, being the good sport that he is, congratulated her on the race.

"You ran a good race, Emily. I honestly thought we were going to lose." Armand told her.

"Really?" Emily asked.

"Of course. You almost had me." Armand said.

"Well, it looks like you and your team are moving on." Vash said to Axel.

"I suppose so. You did your best." Axel told him.

"I guess we're out." Alan said.

"There will be other tournaments. Maybe you'll succeed in the next one." Basil told him.

The six racers shook hands in a display of sportsmanship.

"Look at that. A true showing of sportsmanship. That's how good racers should be." The announcer told the spectators.

The six then walked off of the track and headed towards the stands to watch the rest of the preliminaries.

"With 3 rounds over, it's time for the next round. Our randomizer will determine the next racers. And they will be…"

The randomizers started spinning. The left landed on Cloud, the right landed on Rector.

"…Team Music vs. Team Virtex."

Rector looked at Cloud. Since he was so chivalrous, he would have trouble since 2/3 of the team contained girls. Luckily for him, he would be up against the power type, who was a male.

"I guess we're up next." Rector said.

"Good luck to you." Cloud told him.

**End of Chapter 5.**

Team Berserker wins the third round and moves on.

I apologize to Emily Blue Paw for this chapter, since it's unfair to her. My team vs. her team, it's unfair to her. So, I'll have a little surprise when the finals come around.

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.


	6. Team Virtex vs Team Music

The preliminaries are winding down.

Last time, Team Berserker beat Team Star in their preliminary race, moving on to join Teams Babylon and Dynamic. Armand and Emily also seemed to have a thing for each other (Read between the lines in the last chapter).

Who will join them in the main tournament?

The fourth preliminary race will be between…

**Chapter 6: Virtex vs. Music.**

The next round of the preliminaries was set. Team Virtex would be going against Team Music. Team Virtex, consisting of Rector, Howl, and Raine, were expected to win, yet they didn't count out Team Music, consisting of Cloud, Angie, and Shaun. Cloud was Jet's younger sister, and as such, was the one Jet expected to win.

The racers took their places at the start.

Because Rector was chivalrous, he didn't want to go up against girls. Shaun noticed this, and decided to face him.

"Hey, Rector, I noticed you can't hit girls, right?" Shaun asked.

"Yeah. What's it to you?" Rector asked.

"If you want, you and I can go at it." Shaun offered.

"Alright." Rector accepted.

Howl was talking to Cloud.

"I hope you can defend yourself." Howl told Cloud.

"Don't worry. I can handle myself just fine." Cloud responded.

Raine decided to be polite to Angie.

"Are you ready to race?" Raine asked.

"More than you'll ever be." Angie replied rudely.

"Angie, control it." Shaun told her.

The countdown started. Howl, Cloud, Rector, and Shaun moved back, while Angie and Raine moved forward.

3…Howl, Cloud, Rector, and Shaun started forward.

2...

1…Angie and Raine almost crossed it.

BZZZZZZZT!

Something went wrong with the electric gate. It didn't shut off when it was supposed to and all six racers slammed into it. As if that wasn't enough, the electric gate was at a higher voltage. Someone quickly shut it off.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?" Rector yelled.

"We're checking right now…ok, it seems someone tampered with the controls. If we hadn't shut it off right away, you may have died." The maintenance head told them.

Meanwhile, a shadow looked on from the side. Two other shadows looked on as well.

"Drat. My plan didn't work." The front shadow said.

"You know, it's going to end badly for us if they're killed. They'll find us and arrest us, then maybe kill us for attempted murder." The shadow behind him said.

"I don't care. At one point, they shall die. I'll make sure of it, my friends." The first shadow replied.

Soon, the electric gate generator was back up and running properly. The countdown restarted.

3…

2…

1…

GO!!

The race started. Rector and Shaun took an early lead, followed by Howl and Cloud, then Raine and Angie followed. The track had changed back to its triangular form with 3 loops, one on each straightaway, with a grind rail going through the first one, accelerator rings leading past the second, and an alternate blockaded path leading through the third one. The track also had a transformation feature that allowed it to transform to a different form. What this track did, was it swapped the alternate shortcuts after each lap was completed.

Rector and Shaun were the first to reach the loop. With Rector and Shaun being power and flying types, respectively, they had to go through. Howl and Cloud, being speed types, took the rail, while Raine and Angie, who were flying and power types, respectively, followed Rector and Shaun.

The first attack came afterwards, with Rector attacking Shaun.

"How do you like this?" Rector said as he punched Shaun, who retaliated.

"WATER WHIP!" Shaun called as he swung it at Rector, knocking him off balance.

"See ya later!" Shaun called as he pulled ahead.

Rector recovered, then caught up to Shaun as they continued their battle.

Back in the middle of the field, Howl and Cloud were battling it out.

"I would attack right now, but I'm feeling generous." Howl told her.

"Well, be generous after this!" Cloud said. "WATER WHIP!"

Cloud formed a water whip and hit Howl with it.

"Ok, now you've done it." Howl said.

He boosted to Cloud and howled in her face, causing her to lose concentration. Howl sped on by.

"Ok, now try to catch up!" Howl called back.

"Oooh, that wolf has done it." Cloud said in a rage.

She picked up a 30-ring capsule, sending her to level 2. She then attacked Howl by hitting him with her palm, making him spin.

"Whoa." Howl said as he recovered.

Howl then noticed a 100-ring capsule. He picked it up, which sent him to level 3, then sped past Cloud to where Rector and Shaun were racing. They were going through the loop, so he held off his attack. Once they were through, he boosted and attacked Shaun.

"STRIKE OF THE BUSHIDO!!" Howl shouted as he performed multiple sword slashes on Shaun, stunning him. He then caught up to Rector.

"Did you have to do that?" Rector asked.

"Well, they didn't say anything about not helping your teammates, did they?" Howl replied.

In the back, Raine had reached level 3. She threw a paralysis potion on Angie, stunning her. She got ahead. Angie tried to attack, but she was too hotheaded and missed. Raine, on the other hand, knew Angie would attack after that, so she moved out of the way. Things went like that for the next 2 laps. Halfway through the third lap, an electric gate came online all of a sudden. The racers were going too fast to stop, but the maintenance crew noticed this and shut it down, since the control box could deactivate any electric gates online in the stadium.

The end of the race was near. Everyone was at level 3 by this time. Shaun and Rector attacked each other, Raine and Angie attacked at the same time, and Howl and Cloud did the same.

"CHAOS FIST!!"

"WATER VORTEX!!"

"PARALYSIS POTION!!"

"POWER PUNCH!!"

"STRIKE OF THE BUSHIDO!!"

"ICE PRISON!!"

All six attacks hit at the same time. All six opponents were stopped where they were at. Raine recovered first and crossed the finish line first, followed by Rector, Angie, Shaun, Howl, and then Cloud..

"And the winner is…Team Virtex."

Everyone cheered. Team Virtex turned towards Team Music.

"That was some race." Rector said.

"Well, you won fair and square." Shaun admitted.

"Oh, I don't even want to face my brother." Cloud said, worried.

"Don't worry. Shaun will handle him." Howl told her.

"Right." Shaun said.

"Hmph. Good luck, I suppose." Angie said, rudely.

"Thank you." Raine said politely.

**Up in the stands…**

"Hey, Jet, isn't Cloud your girlfriend?" Sonic asked.

Jet hit Sonic in the head.

"She's my sister, dumbass!" Jet remarked.

"Sorry I asked." Sonic replied with sarcasm.

**On the ground…**

"I guess it's time to head to the stands." Rector said.

"Let's go. I can't wait for the next race." Shaun told him.

The six racers left for the stands. At the entrance, Cloud ran into Jet.

"Jet, I'm sorry I lost." Cloud said, sadly.

"Cloud, I oughta…" He then looked at Shaun, who had less than friendly intentions in his eyes.

"…You know what? Never mind." Jet told her.

They headed for the stands.

"It's time for the final race of the preliminaries." The announcer said. Everyone quieted down. "Since there are only two teams left, we will not activate the randomizer. So, the last round of the preliminaries will be between Team Legendary vs. Team Triple Threat."

Alexander and Zeus looked at each other.

"Bring it on, you reptilian freak." Zeus taunted.

"You would do best to give up. After all, when the race is over, you won't be able to do anything, Zeus." Alexander said without hissing.

"Will the two teams report to the start line?" The announcer requested.

**End of Chapter 6.**

Uh oh. Looks like Alexander has less-than-pleasant intentions for Team Legendary. What could be those plans? Find out in the next Sonic Riders: Ultimate Tournament.

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.


	7. Team Legendary vs Team Triple Threat

It's time for the final preliminary race.

Whoever wins this race will be the final team to enter the main tournament. But who moves on may not be who you think.

The final preliminary race will be between…

**Chapter 7: Legendary vs. Triple Threat**

It was time for the final preliminary race. The crowd was excited. The other racers were anxious.

Team Legendary, consisting of Zeus, Mintra, and Hurricane, would be facing Team Triple Threat, made up of Alexander, Charlie, and Domino. The two teams went to the starting gate.

"Ready to lose, ssssssslow poke?" Alexander asked Zeus.

"We'll see who's a slow poke. I'm just as fast as my son, Sonic." Zeus replied.

"I don't care who you are, because you'll lose." Domino told Mintra.

"Say that to the dirt, once you're in it." Mintra retaliated.

"Why did you enter if you knew you were going to lose?" Charlie asked Hurricane.

"Who said anything about us losing?" Hurricane asked him.

The countdown started. Team Legendary started moving back, while Team Triple Threat stood there.

3…Team Legendary started moving up.

2…

1…

BZZZZT!

The electric gate did not go off at the right time. Team Legendary ran into the gate and were stopped. Team Triple Threat got close to the gate, then it shut down, allowing access.

The track was back to its oval form, the same way as the first race. Alexander was the first out, followed by Domino, then Charlie. Zeus, Mintra, and Hurricane recovered, then followed. The race was on.

Zeus, Mintra, and Hurricane caught up to Alexander, Domino, and Charlie, respectively. They were not too happy at what happened.

"Damn. They got acrosssssss." Alexander cursed under his breath.

"I heard that. YOU must have been the one that sabotaged the gate." Zeus said.

"Ssssso, you're sssssssmarter than you look." Alexander retaliated.

Alexander then attacked.

"HISSSSSSS!"

Alexander hissed in Zeus's face, slowing him down. Alexander then slowed down. Charlie and Domino, who had pulled ahead of Hurricane and Mintra, caught up.

"Alexander, what are you doing?" Charlie asked.

"Finish the race. I have some business to take care of." Alexander said without hissing.

"Got it." Domino said as he and Charlie moved ahead.

"Now, to take care of these fools."

Nobody saw it but Cream and Vanilla, but Alexander pulled out a vial from his trench coat. Mintra was trying to catch up, but Alexander was ready for it. He opened the vial and dumped the contents all over Mintra's board. The board started to short-circuit, then dropped. Alexander didn't stop there. He pulled out a vial of yellow liquid and poured it all over Mintra.

"I hope you enjoy my little gift." Alexander called back.

"What?" Mintra questioned himself. Then…

"Agh."

Something was happening to Mintra.

"Owwwwww."

Mintra threw up for some reason. Vanilla and Cream were worried.

"Mom, what's wrong with Dad?" Cream asked.

"I don't know, Cream. I hope he's okay." Vanilla responded.

Something was definitely wrong. Mintra tried to walk off of the track when he collapsed.

"Ahhhhhhh. What's…going…on?" Mintra asked before falling unconscious.

Two medics came out and checked on Mintra.

"Well, what's going on?" One of the doctors asked.

"He's been poisoned. Some toxin I've never seen before. If we don't do something soon, I'm afraid it's the end for him." The other doctor replied.

"Let's get him off the track and into the medical room."

They loaded Mintra onto a stretcher and carried him out of the track. Vanilla and Cream left the stands to check up on him.

"Heh heh. One down, two to go." Alexander said to himself.

He decided to target Hurricane next. He looked to make sure that his teammates didn't know what he was about to do. He then sped up beside Hurricane.

"You monster. What did you do?" Hurricane asked.

"Something I'm going to do to you." Alexander replied.

"Well, I'm at level 3, so TAKE THIS! TORNADO FIST!"

Hurricane tried to attack, but Alexander bit him on the arm. He then pulled out another vial of yellow liquid and splashed it on Hurricane.

"What the hell…" Hurricane began.

It wasn't long before the liquid took effect.

"Ngh. Not me too!" Hurricane said.

"Heh heh. Enjoy your last moments."

Hurricane tried to stay on his board, but he couldn't. The liquid was too strong. He fell off of his board and collapsed.

"Im…poss…ible." He said before losing consciousness.

Two other medics came out.

"Well, is it the same thing?" One asked.

"Yes. The very same thing. The poison that's inside of Mintra." The other responded.

Alexander seemed pleased with what he had done.

"Now there's one more before our victory is guaranteed. The poisoning of Zeus the Hedgehog."

He saw Zeus up front. He had gotten past Charlie and Domino.

"What!? Not while I'm racing."

Alexander then sped up. As he passed Charlie and Domino, he told them to keep racing.

"Now for Zeus."

He caught up to Zeus, who looked at him.

"You. What have you done to my friends?" Zeus demanded.

"Relax." Alexander said coolly. "I just poisoned them. It's the same way I'll take you out of the race. PERMANENTLY!"

Alexander then pulled out his Beam Rifle. It was his level 3 attack, and he was at level 3. He shot Zeus's board, stunning him. He then pulled out yet another vial of poison and splashed it on him.

"Not me too. You monster, just wait until I…Ahhhhhh."

The poison started to take effect. Sonic noticed this, as well as everyone else.

"Dad! What's going on?" Sonic asked.

Two other medics came out and checked on Zeus.

"Another poison. This is out of hand."

"Let's get him out of here. That poison needs to be taken care of."

They carried Zeus to the medical room.

Alexander caught up to his team.

"Well, now the race is ours." He said.

"Alright. What did you do, by the way?" Domino asked.

"I poisoned them." Alexander mindlessly told them.

"You WHAT!?" Charlie yelled. "You can't do that."

"Shut up. As long as nobody finds out, we're okay." Alexander tried to explain.

"Sorry, but we need to report this. Besides, Dr. Eggman said to not kill anyone." Domino told him.

The race was stopped, seeing as how there was only one team left. They went to the center.

"Well, with only one team left, Team Triple Threat wins." The announcer said. The crowd went wild, as usual.

Domino then walked over to the announcer.

"Excuse me, but may I borrow the microphone?" He asked.

"Sure."

Domino took the microphone and started speaking.

"Sorry about this, but we can't accept this." Domino began. There was a gasp.

"Shut up, Domino!"

Alexander tried to stop him, but Charlie held him back.

"It's not fair what Alexander did. We won the way we did because Alexander deliberately poisoned them during the race. Also, he rigged the electric gate in order to try and take out some more teams."

There was a huge gasp among the crowd. The announcer took back the microphone.

"Before I turn it over, I just want to say that we did not want this to happen. We are fair fighters, but not Alexander. He did it without us noticing."

The announcer took it back.

"Team Triple Threat is hereby disqualified due to Alexander's foul." She announced.

The crowd started booing them.

"Unfortunately, now that we only have four teams in the tournament, I'm afraid we have to cancel it."

"Wait." An unknown voice said.

Two medics brought out Zeus, who was on the stretcher, being given an anti-toxin to cure the poison.

"Please hear my request." Zeus pleaded.

"What is it?"

"I want the tournament to go on. Will you allow Team Sonic to take the place of where we were supposed to be?" Zeus asked.

"But, they cheated."

"It doesn't matter. Just let them in, please."

"Alright." She then turned to the crowd. "Attention, everyone. Zeus of Team Legendary has requested that Team Sonic take their place in the tournament."

There was a loud cheer as the crowd accepted.

"With that, the tournament goes on. The five teams that move on are: Teams Babylon, Dynamic, Berserker, Virtex, and Sonic."

The crowd went wild. In the medical room, the other competitors were listening in.

"Well, it looks like your father requested that you be in the tournament." Armand said to Sonic.

"I don't believe it." Sonic said.

"Well, I guess the tournament continues." Jet said.

One of the medics came in.

"May I have your attention?" The medic asked. Everyone turned around.

"Zeus, Mintra, and Hurricane will be disabled for a while, but they will be okay." He announced. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good." Cream said.

The next announcement came up.

"The 15 competitors that made it to the main tournament will receive the next day to themselves. Enjoy it. That is all."

With one day to themselves, the racers split up to do their own thing.

The next day, Team Virtex decided to spend the day on the beach, Sonic and Amy went on a double date with Armand and Emily, Knuckles went to check on the Master Emerald (so what else is new?), Teams Babylon and Dynamic went to raid some nearby ruins, Axel and Basil just hung out, and Tails spent some time with Cream. They enjoyed it while it lasted. The first race would be on a specially designed course in Station Square.

The tournament would be an intense one.

**End of Chapter 7.**

The five teams have been decided. Which racer will win? Who knows?

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.


	8. The Tournament Begins

It's time for the first race. Remember, teams no longer matter, though I will use team names occasionally.

**Chapter 8: The Tournament Begins.**

27 of the 30 racers returned to the stadium the next day. Team Triple Threat did not return because of Alexander.

Teams Babylon, Dynamic, Berserker, Virtex, and Sonic (due to Zeus's request) had reached the main tournament. The crowd quieted down as the preliminary announcer started to speak.

"With the preliminaries over, let's give a round of applause to the four teams that tried their hardest, yet were unable to make it."

Teams Velocity, Star, Music, and Legendary came out and looked around as the crowd applauded. Nobody cared about Team Triple Threat thanks to Alexander attempting to poison Team Legendary.

"Now, give it up for the five teams that made it to the main tournament. Teams Sonic, Babylon, Dynamic, Berserker, and Virtex."

An even louder round of applause and screams of joy responded.

"Whoa! I never thought that we'd get so much applause." Sonic said, surprised.

"Well, we did make it to the main tournament. Even if you got disqualified." Jet told him.

"I guess it's every racer for themselves, now that the preliminaries are over." Armand said.

"We'll just have to try our best." Galeon spoke up.

"Bring it on. I'm ready." Rector somewhat taunted.

The announcer then spoke up again.

"Now, it's time to bring out the announcer for the main tournament. Come on out!"

A yellow hedgehog came out of nowhere with a microphone in his hand, and a headset for news casting. This was Sonic's brother, Gerald.

"Gerald's the announcer?" Knuckles questioned.

"That's something nobody was expecting." Axel spoke up.

"Who is Gerald?" Rampage asked.

"Gerald is Sonic's…uh…brother." Storm told him.

"Yes. Gerald is Sonic's brother." Howl said.

Gerald started to speak.

"What's up, everyone? I'm Gerald the Hedgehog and I'll be your announcer for the

tournament." Gerald introduced himself.

"Ah, shut up and leave!" One spectator said. Some others started to throw items at him.

He left.

"As I said, I'm the announcer for the main tournament, and Sonic's brother. These teams,

except Team Sonic, made it to the main tournament through winning the preliminaries. In case you all forgot, Knuckles of Team Sonic cheated in their race, and they were disqualified. Thanks to Zeus's request, though, they're back. Well, enough about this. Let's get on with the main tournament. A special course has been set up in Station Square for the first race. You'll find the stands placed around various areas of the track. We'll see you there."

Gerald cut the microphone, and the crowd left to find a seat in the stands around the track. Sonic was the first to approach Gerald.

"Bro, what are you doing as an announcer?" Sonic asked.

"I signed up. When I heard about the tournament, I had to see it for myself. And I didn't want to be part of the crowd. Do you know how loud they can get? So, I became an announcer so I could watch the races, without being in the crowd. Plus, I'm already a natural at it."

"Okay, we get it. Just get into position. I'm getting impatient. When will the race begin?" Galeon complained.

"Please calm down, Galeon." Raine politely asked.

"Sorry. I'm just ready to race." Galeon replied.

"Don't fret, Galeon. We all are." Basil told him.

The 15 racers headed to the start line. The track would be located a few meters above the train station's roof. The start line was placed above the entrance to Casinopolis.

The racers reached the starting block. The electric gate was already up, and the green shock absorber was ready to start moving when activated. Gerald was already in the announcer's booth. He started to talk, so everyone quieted down.

"Here are the rules. First of all, forget the fact that you all joined as teams, because that doesn't matter now. It's now a free-for-all tournament. Everyone goes against everyone else. Now for the main rules. The first one is: No attempted kills. This results in automatic disqualification. The second one: No cheating. This also results in disqualification. The third one, and this one I'm directing mainly at Knuckles: No using off-level attacks. This means don't use a level 3 attack at level 2. Only use the attack that matches your level. This also means no using under-level attacks, also known as level 2 attack at level 3. Basic enough. Remember, the first one to finish wins. Points will be given out based on finishing position. First place gets 15 points, and last place gets you a measly 1 point. The top five at the end of the main tournament move on to the final race. We'll have two special racers from two of the losing teams coming back. They will take the last two spots. So, get to your positions, racers."

Gerald finished the rule-explanation, and the 15 racers took different places at the start line. A few started way back, while a few more got right up to the electric gate. Anyone else was in between. The countdown started.

5…

4…The racers started moving up.

3…

2…Those close to the gate got ready to dash out of there.

1…

GO!

The electric gate disappeared. Nightscream was the first out on the track. Raine followed up in second, Wave in third. They were all out of the starting block within 3 seconds. They came out in this order, from 4th to last: Howl, Sonic, Armand, Basil, Rector, Rampage, Jet, Storm, Tails, Galeon, Axel, and bringing up the rear was Knuckles.

The track started at an upward incline above Casinopolis, slowing the racers down some. Most of the racers kicked the booster to get up there, but those who didn't fell behind. Rampage and Tails were the noted racers.

"What? How did they get up there so quickly?" Tails asked.

"It's simple. They boosted, and we didn't." Rampage told him.

Luckily for them, a row of item capsules was coming up. They each got one, and as luck would have it, they were invincibility items. A field of blue sparkling energy surrounded both of them. They got up the slope, where they could see a ramp coming up. There was a high track, and a low one. Neither had an advantage over the other, so it didn't matter. Tails took the high road, and Rampage took the bottom. With the invincibility shields still intact, they blazed through some of the other racers. They were soon in the top 7.

Up at the front, Nightscream and Raine were battling it out. Both of them were at level 1, so their attacks were Nightscream's yell, and Raine's cute face.

"I'll admit, you're good." Nightscream told Raine.

"You're not so bad yourself." Raine replied.

Back in 11th place, Sonic had reached level 2. He saw his chance to take the lead. The top 10 were close enough that Sonic's level 2 attack could get them all. The top 10 were, from 1st to 10th, Nightscream, Raine, Wave, Armand, Howl, Galeon, Knuckles, Storm, Basil, and Rampage. They were all on the ground level.

"Heh. I think it's time to go for a little bowling." Sonic said while smiling.

Sonic started a level 2 spin dash, and charged forward. One by one, the top 10 spun out.

"Strike!" Sonic said as he took the lead.

"Damn it!" Knuckles cursed.

Because the top 10 were hit by Sonic's level 2 attack, they had fallen behind. The last 5 had now become the top 5.

Armand was the first to react. He spotted a 100-ring capsule nearby. He picked it up and went to level 3 instantly. He caught up to Rector and unleashed his level 3 attack.

"MEGA LASER!" Armand called out.

The Mega Laser hit Rector with full power, effectively burning him to a crisp. He did the same to Jet, then Tails, and finally Axel before catching up to Sonic. They were in a tight turn that hovered above the train station. The stretch after this would lead above City Hall, then a loop over Emerald Coast before a jump ramp led back to the start, above Casinopolis.

Armand boosted to attack Sonic, but Sonic swerved out of the way. Armand saw it coming, however, and swerved in that direction. He hit Sonic with the Mega Laser. Armand now had the lead. It would stay that way for two more laps around.

**Two laps later…**

Armand amazingly kept the lead until the third lap, when he got careless and his board ran out of air. He ran to an Air Pit, and topped off his air tank. By this time, however, Raine took the lead. Armand tried to catch up, but was hit by Rector's level 3 attack.

"CHAOS FIST!"

Armand got hit hard. The attack stunned him, allowing Rector and Raine to gain a lead on him. But Wave was in hot pursuit. She attacked Rector and then Raine with a level 2 attack.

"How's this?" Wave asked as she hit Raine with her wrench. Unfortunately for her, Rector saw the whole thing.

"Don't you EVER hurt her like that." Rector yelled.

"What? You're mad just because I hit your girlfriend." Wave taunted. That's something you are NEVER to do when Rector's around.

"SHE'S LIKE A SISTER TO ME!" Rector yelled at her.

Rector kicked the booster. He was very angry. He couldn't hold it in anymore. He sped up to Wave and wanted to punch her, but due to his chivalrous nature, he couldn't bring it upon himself. Wave saw this and hit Rector with her wrench again. Galeon came up behind them and passed Rector.

"I knew you wouldn't hit her." Galeon taunted.

Galeon sped ahead and crossed the finish line first, followed by Wave, then Rector.

"Galeon wins the first race!" Gerald announced.

Galeon couldn't believe it. He actually won the first race. He actually won.

"I…I won. I WON! YES!" Galeon said with glee.

The Results (Racer: Points earned.):

Galeon: 15

Wave: 14

Rector: 13

Sonic: 12

Basil: 11

Nightscream: 10

Armand: 9

Jet: 8

Rampage: 7

Raine: 6

Howl: 5

Tails: 4

Axel: 3

Storm: 2

Knuckles: 1

"So, congratulations to Galeon. Next, we go to the first Survival Battle at Babylon Garden's Dual Towers. See ya there." Gerald announced, then cut the mic and left. The crowd also left, planning to board ships bound for Babylon Garden. Jet had his airship ready, so the racers boarded it and headed off.

**End of Chapter 8.**

Galeon has won, and the competition will get even better.

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.


	9. Dual Towers: The First Survival Battle

Here's the next chapter. It's battle time.

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners.

**Chapter 9: Dual Towers: The First Survival Battle.**

In the first race of the main tournament, Galeon the Blue Jay won the first race. Knuckles finished last. The results (They go by Racer (point total)): Galeon (15), Wave (14), Rector (13), Sonic (12), Basil (11), Nightscream (10), Armand (9), Jet (8), Rampage (7), Raine (6), Howl (5), Tails (4), Axel (3), Storm (2), and Knuckles (1). It was time for a survival race. The next day, everyone reached Babylon Garden's Dual Towers arena. Gerald was already there, and as the heroes came out, he started to do his job.

"Welcome to Dual Towers, located in scenic Babylon Garden. Yes, that last sentence was kind of sarcastic. This will be the first of three Survival Battles. We have 3 matchups today. The team leaders go first, then the flyers, then the final matchup. Here are the rules: Each racer has 3 hit points. Once someone loses all three, they're out and get 1 point. The last one standing wins and gets 5 points. There are 4 different types of power ups, and one special. Red is attack power up. You do more damage than normal. Blue is guard power up. You can take more hits that way. Yellow is air power up. You hold more air depending on the level, but your speed suffers. Green is speed power up. You go faster, but you use more air. The taller the power up field, the bigger the boost you get. Then there's the egg. Once you get it, for 20 seconds, you can't boost, and if attacked, you lose it. Once it hatches, an eagle comes out and assists you. With it, you gain level 3 attack power up, level 1 guard, half air consumption, and extra speed. All attacks are automatically level 2, so one attack sends you spinning. There are two air pits. Two minutes into the match, we will release crows onto the battlefield. If a crow hits you, you lose a hit. If someone is closing in, drop a tornado, and if they get hit, they lose a point. Well, that about covers it up, so here are the team leaders. Galeon, Rector, Sonic, Armand, and Jet, it's time for your battle." Gerald announced. (I was hoping to match speed types together, but this seems natural, which is why I figured Rector would be a speed type.)

Armand took a place in the lower left on the map, Sonic started in the lower right, Rector took his place in the upper right, Galeon started in the upper left, and Jet started in the middle.

"Don't start until the countdown ends." Gerald told them.

"Alright, bring it on." Sonic taunted.

"No way I'm gonna lose." Jet taunted.

"I'll show you how to ride Extreme Gear." Galeon taunted.

"You'll regret facing me." Rector taunted.

"Everyone, get out of my way." Armand taunted.

The countdown began.

3…

2…

1…

GO!

The five racers hopped on their board. Jet came out of the middle and started heading toward Sonic. Armand targeted Galeon, leaving Rector alone.

"Hmph. Leave me out of the fun, will you?" Rector asked.

He boosted towards Jet and attacked. Jet was hit without any guard and lost a hit.

"Ow. I'll show you." Jet remarked.

Armand and Galeon were boosting towards each other. As they attacked each other, their boards bounced off of each other, and left them dazed for a few seconds. At that point…

"Coming through!"

Both Armand and Galeon were hit by Sonic's attack and lost a hit each. Sonic sped by, leaving them in the dust. Rector came up behind Armand.

"Heh heh. It's time to bring him down." Rector told himself while boosting towards Armand. But just as he was about to attack…

"Whoa!" Rector yelled as he was hit by a tornado. Armand had seen the attack coming and laid a tornado to trip him up.

"Nice try, Rector, but no luck this time." Armand taunted.

"Blast you, tiger." Rector yelled.

Sonic saw Galeon charging up behind him. Sonic was ready to lay a tornado, but Galeon swerved by him. Sonic boosted towards him, but Galeon laid a tornado and hit Sonic. Everyone was now down to two hits left.

Sonic got a level 1 guard, but Rector had gotten a level 2 attack power up, and hit Sonic. The result did 3 points of damage. The first took out the shield, and the other removed the last of Sonic's hit points. Sonic lost.

"Sonic is the first one out. Only four left."

Sonic was clearly ticked off.

"THAT WAS ONLY BECAUSE I WENT OUT WITH YOUR SISTER!!" Sonic yelled.

"Actually, I want to win and you happened to be my target, but yeah, I suppose that works too." Rector told him. He looked into the nearby stands, and saw Amy, fuming with anger. Apparently, she had heard the whole thing. Rector cringed. Even he knew not to mess with Amy.

"Crap. I'm in for it once this is over." Rector said, knowing he was in trouble.

Armand was battling Galeon, Jet, and Rector all at once. They were triple-teaming him.

"Three against one? This isn't fair."

"Ah, shut up and go eat some Frosted Flakes, grrr-EAT tiger." Galeon taunted. That is the one thing you NEVER say to Armand. Such a comment made him angry in such a way that nothing could calm him down.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT ME, BIRDBRAIN!?" Armand yelled.

Armand went into a frenzy. He attacked Galeon, then Jet, then Rector, and then hit Galeon again, knocking him out of the race. Jet and Rector boosted away.

Emily Leot was watching from the stands. Watching her boyfriend be like this shocked her.

"Armand would never do that unless something really insulted him." Emily said to herself.

"I heard what ticked him off." A voice said beside her.

Zeus came up from the side. Mintra and Hurricane were with him.

"Team Legendary? I'm sorry you guys didn't make it." Emily apologized.

"We don't need apologies from you. It's Alexander that needs to be sorry." Hurricane said to her.

"Now, what's wrong with Armand?" Emily asked.

"It was Galeon's fault. He told Armand to go eat some Frosted Flakes, then called him a grr-EAT tiger. You know, what Tony the Tiger says about them. That's a major insult against Armand. He hears it, you run away. I don't know if anything will calm him down." Mintra revealed.

"That's horrible. I can't believe someone would tell him that."

Emily then looked out at Armand.

"Please, Armand, calm down. I don't want to see you like this." She pleaded with herself.

Armand then calmed down, as if he heard her. Armand looked over at Emily.

"Thank you, Emily. I don't know how, but I heard you."

"That's because I channeled her prayer to you, my son." A familiar voice told him.

All of a sudden, Armand was warped from the battle arena and reappeared in a void.

"I know that voice. My father." Armand told himself.

"That's right, my son."

Tobias, Armand's father, came out of nowhere.

"Dad? Is that you?"

"Actually, I'm just a spirit. What just happened?"

"I don't know. First, Galeon taunts me, then, I go into a rage and take him out."

"That's called Berserker's Rage. I have it, and I transferred it to you when you were born. It has lied dormant until now. What did Galeon say to you, anyway?"

"He told me to go eat some Frosted Flakes, then called me a grr-EAT tiger. That set me off."

"That's the very taunt that made me go like that. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It happens to all of us tigers. The only thing that calmed me down was Alicia, your mother. Emily did the same thing to you. I think she may be the one for you."

"Well, we have gone on a date before the main tournament started. We hugged, but we were too nervous to kiss."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of either. The very same thing happened to me and Alicia. Well, I think it's time for you to return to the race."

"You're right. Thanks, Dad."

"No problem, Armand."

Armand then left the void. The next thing he knew, Sonic, Rector, Jet, Galeon, Emily, and a couple of medics were standing over him.

"W…Where…am I?" Armand asked.

"For some reason, you went into a rage, then, when you went out of it, you fell unconscious." Galeon explained. "I'll know not to do that again."

"I remember now. When I passed out, I suddenly entered a void. I saw my father, who told me about what I went into."

"And what was that?" Emily asked.

"I'll tell you all later. Right now, I need some rest. I'm backing out of this battle."

Gerald came over just in time to hear that last sentence.

"Attention everyone, Armand has just backed out of the battle. As Sonic and Galeon lost before this, Armand wins 3rd place automatically." Gerald announced. "Jet and Rector will face off in a one-on-one with current status."

The two medics hauled Armand off with Emily following him. Jet and Rector got back in position.

"Here's how this ends up. You both will charge at each other. The first one to get hit loses. You both have one hit left, so make your attack count." Gerald announced.

The towers were picked up to allow room for the duel. Eggman came out.

"The towers are up. The duel can begin when ready." Eggman called out.

"Yes everyone, Eggman is helping us out in the tournament, so don't go wild."

Jet and Rector waited for the start.

3…

2…

1…

GO!

Jet charged forward. Rector did the same. They had their level two attacks ready. Jet with his paper fan, Rector with his Leaf Whirlwind. As they came close, they launched their attacks.

"Take this!"

"Leaf Whirlwind."

The two attacks collided. The racers passed each other. They stopped. After a few seconds, Rector crouched down, clutching his arm. Jet stood up, unharmed. Jet's attack hit Rector just as he kicked. Jet barely avoided it.

"Jet wins the battle." Gerald announced.

"Oh yeah. I'm the best." Jet taunted.

Rector walked up to Jet, who cringed. But to his surprise, Rector stuck out his hand. Jet shook it.

"You won, fair and square." Rector told him.

"You did well yourself." Jet told him.

The results (racer (points total): Jet (13), Rector (17), Armand (12), Galeon (17), and Sonic (13).

"That was just the first battle. Rector and Galeon are tied for the lead for now. But will that change? Find out in the next battle. Will the flyers come out?" Gerald asked. Tails, Wave, Raine, Basil, and Nightscream came out, ready for the battle. Tails took the lower left, Wave took the lower right, Raine started in the upper left, Basil took the upper right, and Nightscream started in the center.

"I'll do my best." Tails said.

"You think you can win with that board?" Wave taunted.

"I hope I can win." Raine said.

"It's over, so just give up." Basil taunted.

"I'll show you what I can do." Nightscream taunted.

3…

2…

1…

GO!

All 5 started at once. The towers were back in place. Tails and Wave went after each other, while Raine, Basil, and Nightscream had a three-way battle. Wave pulled out her wrench, while Tails started swinging his plug. As they charged at each other, Tails moved to the side. Wave, who was too late to react, was hit by the plug, losing one hit. Wave turned around and boosted, hitting Tails with her wrench. They continued their battle.

Raine, Basil, and Nightscream were battling it out. Raine threw a stomach virus powder on Nightscream, who slapped Basil with his medallion, who slashed Raine with his Aqua Sword. Each of them lost two hit points because they had both picked up a level 1 attack power up. Basil turned his attention to Wave, who had just picked up a level 2 attack power up and hit Tails, knocking him out of the battle. Basil charged at Wave, then hit her with his Aqua Sword. Before that, he picked up another level 1 attack power up. Wave was eliminated. Nightscream then came up and slapped Basil with his medallion again, eliminating him. Raine then snuck up on Nightscream and hit him one last time. The crows didn't even have to come out. Raine had won in 1:47, the quickest time ever scored. She scored 5 bonus points as a result. The results: Raine (16(five for the win and the five bonus points)), Nightscream (14), Basil (14), Wave (16), and Tails (5).

"This was a quick battle. Raine not only one, she also scored the quickest time in the arena, ending the match in 1 minute, 47 seconds. Congratulations to Raine."

Everyone cheered as Raine received an award for her impressive time.

"Now that the second round is over, it's time for the final battle. Will Howl, Rampage, Axel, Knuckles, and Storm come out?" Gerald asked. The five ran out onto the course. Howl felt that this was unfair since he was the only speed character going up against a bunch of power types. He was confident though. And he had a plan.

Storm took the lower left, Knuckles on the lower right, Howl in the center, Rampage on the upper right, and Axel on the upper left.

"Don't get in my way." Knuckles taunted.

"I hope you're ready for this." Storm taunted.

"Don't make me mad." Rampage told them.

"Show me what you've got." Axel taunted.

"Let's go." Howl said.

3…

2…

1…

GO!

The four power types converged on Howl, attacks ready. It probably didn't help that they all started in front of a level 2 attack power up. Howl waited, and waited, and waited…

"Wait for it, and…NOW!"

Just as they converged on Howl, he boosted out of the way. Rampage, Storm, and Axel hit each other at the same time. Rampage was the first to go, followed by Storm, and then Axel. Knuckles managed to dodge, then tried to hit Howl, but he missed. They were battling it out for two minutes, doing nothing and boring the crowd, and then Knuckles picked up a level 2 attack power up and finally connected with his attack. Howl lost, and Knuckles picked up the win. The results: Knuckles (6), Howl (9), Axel (6), Storm (4), and Rampage (8).

That wrapped up this survival battle.

"That ends the survival battle. Everyone is to report to Future City's race track, Metal City, for a race. I'll see you there." Gerald said, then left.

Armand, in the medical room, had just finished explaining his story to Emily.

"…And that's the story." Armand finished.

"Wow. I had no idea. Thanks for telling me." Emily told him.

"Emily, I want to know. Ever since the preliminaries, we've paid more attention to each other. We even went on a date. So, I want to know. Do you love me?" Armand finally asked.

"Of course I love you." Emily replied.

Emily then came close to Armand and kissed him. Sonic looked in to tell Armand the results, but saw what was happening and decided not to disturb them. Armand and Emily were like that for a minute, then they parted.

"Emily, I love you too." Armand told her.

Armand got out of the chair he was resting in and they left, hand in hand. The racers got in Jet's airship and flew to Future City.

**End of Chapter 8.**

The results after this race:

Rector: 17

Galeon: 17

Raine: 16

Wave: 16

Nightscream: 14

Basil: 14

Jet: 13

Sonic: 13

Armand: 12

Howl: 9

Rampage: 8

Knuckles: 6

Axel: 6

Tails: 5

Storm: 4

Man, I know I'm going to get it. The flying battle went by too quickly, the power battle was too boring, and the focus seems to have been on Armand. Oh well, I try.

Well, I liked the chapter, and I'm sure you will.

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.


	10. Metal City Madness

It's time for the next race.

As you all remember (if you read the last chapter), the first Survival Battle took place. Jet, Raine, and Knuckles all won their respective battles, with Raine getting an award for the fastest time on the Dual Towers arena. Also, Armand revealed to Emily about what happened to him, and then they had their first kiss. Oh, and Rector's in for it. You'll know what I'm talking about.

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners.

**Chapter 10: Metal City Madness.**

With the first Survival Battle over, the racers (as well as some of the others such as Amy and Emily) got on board Jet's airship to head to Future City, where the Metal City district would hold the next race. The points looked this way: Rector (17), Galeon (17), Raine (16), Wave (16), Nightscream (14), Basil (14), Jet (13), Sonic (13), Armand (12), Howl (9), Rampage (8), Knuckles (6), Axel (6), Tails (5), and Storm (4).

On the airship, Amy had started yelling at Rector.

"Listen, Rector. I heard everything you said in the arena. What's wrong with being in love with Sonic? I thought you was okay with it. You even let me go on a date with him. So why did you tell him that taking him out of the battle was because he went out on a date with me? You've never been like that before. You really need to…"

Amy went on and on. Rector knew this was coming, but he didn't know how long Amy would keep this up. So he listened, because he knew that if he tried to tune her out, she would get even angrier. Amy finally stopped when she got tired.

"Got it, Rector?" Amy asked, out of breath.

"Yes, Amy. I'm sorry for saying that to Sonic." Rector told her.

Sonic came up beside Amy.

"Actually, Amy, I'm kind of responsible as well. What I said that caused him to say that came out before I knew it did. I'm sorry." Sonic apologized.

"It's okay, Sonic." Amy said.

Just then, the ship shook.

"What the…?" Armand began to ask.

"Attention, everyone." Jet's voice came over the intercom. "We have arrived in Metal City. Sorry for the rough landing."

"Well, at least we're here." Nightscream said as he hopped out of the airship.

Gerald was waiting for them.

"Welcome to Metal City. Teams Sonic and Babylon, you've been here before. The rest of you, take a trip around. See you at the track."

Gerald then left as the racers split up. They went in different directions. It was an hour later that they met up at the track. Gerald decided to start the announcements.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Metal City track, located in Future City. This track may look easy, but there is some traffic along the streets, so watch out, especially at the crossroads. We've hidden the 100-ring capsule somewhere, so look out for it, and see if you know how to get it. Well, get ready for the race. Standard rules apply to this race, so I don't need to go over them again. Well, with that, the racers can head to the starting line, and wait to begin the race."

Gerald went to the announcer's booth as the 15 racers took their places along the track.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

GO!

The racers left the starting line within 2 seconds, leaving hardly any room for movement. They headed down the slope, one of the places where attacks were common. Two air pits were at the side, incase anyone needed to top off their tank. A ramp was coming up, and how much of a jump you got determined where you landed. There were two different roads. One up above, and one down in the streets. Most of the racers hit the top, but the speed racers didn't get up there.

"Aw, man. How do we catch up now?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know. I've never raced here before." Howl told him.

"We've got to catch up somehow." Armand said.

Fortunately, Jet remembered.

"The turn over there has a rail we can grind. If we all hit it, we can catch up."

"Then let's not waste any time." Galeon said.

Howl was the first one, followed by Armand, Sonic, Jet, and Galeon. If this weren't a race, you'd think it was a game of follow the leader. Halfway around the turn, they found a gap. Howl made it and hit the second rail, as well as Sonic, Jet, and Galeon. Armand wasn't so lucky. He missed the rail and hit the tube tunnel wall, slowing him down. The other four speeders exited the grind as the other racers came down from the top road. Armand was left behind.

"Man, why didn't I see that coming?" Armand asked himself as he regained his previous speed.

Up ahead, the other fourteen racers had just gone down a slope, and then went up another one. They found a drop-off and some headed down, while some racers managed to make it a ramp. As they landed on the streets below, Armand managed to get up the slope just to see Sonic disappear from his view.

"Now what am I going to do?" Armand asked himself.

His answer came up a short time later. Once he hit a capsule, the invincibility shield appeared around him.

"Yeah, now we're talking." Armand said to himself.

Armand boosted. He didn't have to attack, because anyone hit by the shield would spin out. He hit almost every racer when the shield gave out. Armand was now in 3rd place.

"Whoa! Armand really caught up." Sonic said, amazed.

"Thanks to the invincibility." Jet scoffed.

"Calm down, Jet. If you were him, you would've picked it up." Galeon told him.

The tunnels went two ways. One was clear, while the other had cars going through it. The power characters took the right, while everyone else took the left. As they emerged, only Rector noticed the big rig on the right. So, when everyone was going through the streets, Rector bashed his way into the shortcut. As he punched through a few cars, he found himself in second.. And he was, as when he emerged, he was behind Tails by a tail (pun intended). Literally, as he was one of Tails' tail lengths behind. A tight turn came up, and as everyone went through it, Nightscream, who was at level 2, slapped Raine with his medallion. Rector noticed this, however, and to him, protecting those he treats like a sister, such as Raine, came before winning a race. He backed off, then hit Nightscream with a level 3 attack, since he was at level 3.

While Nightscream recovered, the other racers got ahead. They were on the final stretch. As they approached the ramp, they could go one of two directions. Up, where there was another ramp, or down, where there was a pulley that they could ride up, and gain some air while they were at it. Only the flyers managed to make it. The others hit the bottom, and had to ride the pulleys up. The flyers had the lead, with the exception of Nightscream, who was in the back. They crossed the finish line to begin lap two.

As they went down the ramp, Sonic came blasting through at level 2, blazing through some of the racers in his path. They would have to take the bottom road, as they couldn't recover in time. The others, however, managed to make it. As they rode along, Raine noticed the 100-ring capsule.

"The 100-ring capsule!" She exclaimed. Unfortunately for her, Storm overheard.

"Now I can get it."

Storm saw a nearby arrow sign. He leaped on it, and his momentum, along with the direction of the sign, managed to get the capsule. The others noticed, and sped away. They knew how devastating Storm's two-handed slam was. Storm boosted, but didn't hit anyone. But he had the lead. It stayed that way until lap three.

On the final lap, Raine was catching up to Storm near the crossroads. She was at level 3, so her attack would stun Storm. She boosted, and the attack hit Storm, not only stunning him, but bringing him back down to level 1. Raine felt proud of herself. Armand came up beside her.

"That was amazing. I can see why you're part of Team Virtex." Armand called out as they rounded the turn.

"Well, I can create any virus or cure." Raine called back.

They didn't notice Sonic coming up behind them. He avoided Raine (so Rector wouldn't go after him), but hit Armand. He was at level 3, so the attack tripped Armand.

"Ow. I'll get you, Sonic." Armand vowed.

He would indeed. As he caught up, he boosted, and attacked Sonic by snapping loudly in his face. As they hit the ramp, Armand managed to hit the top road, while Sonic took the bottom. As they reached the beginning area, Armand finished first, followed by Raine, then Sonic.

"Armand wins the race!" Gerald announced.

"I won. I don't believe it." Armand told himself.

In the stands, Emily looked on with a smile.

"Armand won. Alright. I knew he could do it." Emily said to herself.

"Well, there you have it, everyone. Armand wins the Metal City race. Come back tonight, when we'll have the Night Chase track set up for the Survival Race. See you all tonight."

Gerald then packed up what he brought along and left. A hotel had been rented out for the racers and the other heroes, as well as the racers who didn't make it to the tournament, and some families of the racers. The racers chose their rooms. Couples would end up in the same room together. They would stay there until nighttime.

**End of Chapter 10.**

Well, that race was kind of short. But it went well. I'm sure you all liked it.

The results: Armand (+15), Raine (+14), Sonic (+13), Howl (+12), Rampage (+11), Rector (+10), Tails (+9), Wave (+8), Galeon (+7), Knuckles (+6), Storm (+5), Nightscream (+4), Axel (+3), Jet (+2), Basil (+1).

The point totals:

Raine: 30

Rector: 27

Armand: 27

Sonic: 26

Wave: 24

Galeon: 23

Howl: 21

Rampage: 19

Nightscream: 18

Basil: 15

Jet: 15

Tails: 14

Knuckles: 12

Axel: 9

Storm: 9

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.


	11. Night Race, Survival Chase

It's time for the next event. It's a Survival Race.

Rules will appear in the chapter. Are you all ready?

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners. I don't need to tell you who they are.

**Chapter 11: Night Race, Survival Chase.**

In the last race, the results ended up like this: Raine (30), Rector (27), Armand (27), Sonic (26), Wave (24), Galeon (23), Howl (21), Rampage (19), Nightscream (18), Basil (15), Jet (15), Tails (14), Knuckles (12), Axel (9), and Storm (9).

It was time for the first Survival Race. It was nighttime in Future City. The Metal City track had been redone, opening some new areas while closing access to others. There was no drop off before the split tunnel, because that drop off was on the closed out part of Metal City. The rest of the track was the same, except for the nighttime sky and the lit-up city.

As the racers stood around the starting block, Gerald started the pre-race announcements.

"Alright, everyone. It's time for the first Survival Race at the Night Chase track, also located in Future City. Actually, this track is a redesigned Metal City track. As usual, the team leaders will go first, then the flying types, then the remaining five will go.

"Now, for the actual rules. There will be one Chaos Emerald set somewhere on the track. We have placed 4 gates around the track, in various places. Your objective is to go through a gate while holding the emerald. You lose it if you're bumped, attacked, or your board runs out of air, in which case you'll be zapped and the emerald will be set back on the course. Oh, and if you stop while holding the emerald, you'll lose air so fast you won't know it, so don't try and wait the clock out. All attacks are set at level 2, and the only power ups are speed up, slow down, and air power ups. There's also a chance you'll get nothing.

"To balance everyone out, the one with the emerald loses air at a steady rate. The ones who don't will have near limitless air. Your boards have been equipped with an air regulator designed especially for Survival Races. Also, the one with the emerald goes a bit slower than the others. The first to reach the point limit wins, and receives 5 points on their total score. The others receive points based on what rank they have in terms of points. In the case of a tie, we award the same number of points.

"Let's say Sonic and Armand both have, say, 8 points, and Rector scores the final point. Sonic and Armand both finish second, and receive 4 points to their score if nobody is in front of them.. That's basically it. Oh yeah, and if you go off course, you lose the emerald. Basic rules apply. It's impossible for a first place tie, because it's over as soon as time runs out, or someone reaches the point total. If you get no points in the race, you'll get one point added to your total for a good try. All boards will come to a stop, but not so hard as to throw you off. You have 5 minutes to score 5 points. Well, that's it for the rules, so let's get started."

Gerald finally wrapped up the announcements, and headed to the announcer's booth. Sonic, Rector, Armand, Jet, and Galeon took their places at the start line.

3…2…1…GO!

The five racers shot out of the starting gate. As they raced down the slope, they saw the emerald waiting. Armand boosted and picked it up first, then jumped the ramp. If this were a regular race, there would be grind rails, flight accelerator rings, and obstacles. But shortcuts were off limits during Survival Races, so there were none. Armand saw the first gate up ahead, just before the first turn. Just as he was about to pass through it, Galeon attacked with his katana. Since a racer gets the emerald right as the attack connects, Galeon got the first point. Armand recovered and sped up to keep with the others.

"Damn it. Now I've got to catch up." Armand cursed.

Galeon saw the next gate just short of the split tunnel. He boosted towards it, but lost his remaining air, got zapped, and lost the emerald. Sonic and Jet sped by as he regained his balance. Through the tunnel, Sonic saw the emerald just after the third gate. He boosted to pick it up, but right as he got it, Jet attacked with his paper fan, stealing the emerald while he was at it. He pulled an air slide around the corner and shot towards the final gate before the start line. It was in the middle of the road. Jet boosted through it and picked up his first point before he hit the ramp. Sonic and Armand followed, then Rector and Galeon afterwards. As they sped up the pulley, Rector managed to get ahead of the others, and stopped after passing Jet in the starting block. He waited for Jet to get ahead, then attacked and stole the emerald. There was about 4:10 left on the clock after the first lap.

The second lap started. Rector had the emerald. As he hit the ramp, he landed on the left side of the obstruction. The others landed on the right, and stopped, thinking that Rector was behind them. But by the time they realized that he was ahead, he was already making the sharp turn, going through the nearby gate at the same time. They boosted ahead to catch up, but by the time they got through the turn, Rector had already reached the split tunnels, as well as the gate. He went through it and picked up his second point. The others soon reached that particular gate, but Rector had already sped through and was at the crossroads. He passed through that gate, gaining his third point.

"Oh yeah. Three points for me." Rector gloated.

But his luck soon turned bad. As he sped on, he failed to realize that his board was running low on air. As he slid through the turn, he ran out of air, allowing the others to catch up. There was 3:30 left on the clock. Rector had the lead with three points, followed by Galeon and Jet with one, and Sonic and Armand with zero. That would change soon.

Armand sped by the others and picked up the emerald after the gate. As he hit the ramp, he saw that the others were closing in. He sped through the pulley, then used some air to lay a tornado that would buy him some time as the third lap began. He ran low on air by the time he reached the ramp, but pulled off a trick that would buy him enough air to reach the gate. As he passed through, the others were just landing on the road. They had to catch up.

"It's my time to shine." Armand said to himself.

As he rounded the corner, he found himself low on air. He had no choice. He would never make it to the next gate, so he let himself run out of air. The emerald reset itself, and Armand let the others catch up to make it fair.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Armand said sarcastically.

As the five racers sped to the emerald's new location, Sonic decided to take the right tunnel. It turned out to be a smart move, as he shot out in front of the others.

"Oh yeah. Now it's my turn." Sonic said.

Sonic picked up the emerald and sped towards the corner. As he rounded it, he dropped a tornado trip up the others. It worked. Sonic sped ahead as the others recovered from the tornado. He passed through the gate, hit the ramp, sped up the pulley, and landed back at the start. The time remaining was 2:30. Half of the time they were given had passed by. Sonic sped down the incline, over the ramp, and landed on the right side.

"Looks like I've lost them." Sonic said to himself.

How right he was. Sonic was too far ahead for the others to catch up. But he knew better than to let down his guard. If he did, someone might sneak up on him and steal the emerald. Sonic kept going. He passed through the next gate, which brought him up to ¾ of his air tank full. He kept on. After passing through the next gate, giving him his third point, he saw Galeon and Armand gaining ground. Sonic knew they would try to stop him.

"Now how am I to lose these guys?" Sonic asked himself.

He got his answer when he came up to the next gate. Just before passing through, he dropped a tornado. He passed through the gate. He now needed one more to win.

"One more. Then I'll win." Sonic told himself.

As he rounded the corner, he knew his air tank was running low. He only needed to go a little further to win. As his tank reached the danger zone, he sped up to the gate. Armand was nearly caught up. Just as Sonic's tank ran down to its last bit of air, Sonic passed through the gate, giving him the win. All of the gears stopped as the results were tallied.

"Using his last bit of air, Sonic managed to pass through the gate to gain his final point. Sonic wins!" Gerald announced.

"Sweet! I won!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Bummer." Galeon muttered.

"Dang." Rector nearly cursed.

"I'll win next time." Jet vowed.

"All luck, but some skill." Armand muttered.

As the team leaders headed back to the starting block, the points were totaled up. The results for part 1: Sonic finished 1st, Rector got 2nd, and Armand, Galeon, and Jet all finished 3rd, having one point each. The results: Sonic (+5), Rector (+4), and Armand, Galeon and Jet all earned 3 points. Now the totals were: Rector (31), Armand (30), Sonic (31), Galeon (26), and Jet (18). Rector and Sonic were tied for the lead, since flying-type Raine had 30. Speaking of flying types, it was their turn.

"Will the flying types please report to the starting gate?" Gerald requested.

Tails, Wave, Raine, Nightscream, and Basil went up to the starting gate and waited. The gates were in the same place, and the emerald was at its starting position.

3…2…1…GO!

The next survival race started. Tails was the first off the line, followed by Wave, Basil, Nightscream, and then Raine. Tails, being in the lead, picked up the emerald first. He launched himself off of the ramp, and landed on the right side. The others landed on the left. Tails clearly had the advantage. As he passed through the first gate, Wave tried to attack. Tails moved out of the way, only to be hit by Nightscream. Tails did a short hop to regain his boost ability. He boosted and caught up. Just as Nightscream was about to earn his first point, Tails stole the emerald and got the point instead. Nightscream wasn't too happy about this, and tried to attack Tails. When Tails dodged, Basil bumped the emerald from him. Basil went through the tunnel and sped through the gate. He earned his first point.

"One down, four to go." Basil counted.

That countdown was short-lived. Wave hit Basil with her wrench, sending him into a spin. Wave sped down the straightaway, towards the corner. She rounded it with ease. But that didn't help, as Tails came up again and attacked, stole the emerald, and went through the gate. Tails already had 3 points, and not even a minute had gone by. That was truly amazing. Raine sped up to Tails.

"Sorry, Tails." She said as she attacked him.

Tails lost the emerald, and Raine took it. She launched off of the ramp to the low road. She grabbed the pulley as it swung her around, then took her to the top. She sped across the start line, down the incline, and went to the ramp. She launched off, and landed on the left side. She sped on, and managed to reach the gate near the turn. But she didn't get through it in time.

Nightscream caught up and bumped into her, stealing the emerald. He went through the gate, rounded the corner, and boosted. This took a big chunk out of his air, but it paid off. He made it through the gate, and headed through the tunnel. But that's where Tails attacked him.

Spinning his plug around, he hit Nightscream and took the emerald. Passing through the next gate, he was one point away from the win. It didn't take long. Tails would earn 3 bonus points if he won in within two laps. Tails rounded the next corner and sped towards the gate. Tails passed through it, and won.

"Tails wins within two laps. Truly amazing." Gerald announced.

"Ha ha. Did you see that?" Tails asked.

"I need to tune up my Gear." Wave told herself.

"I lost? What a pain." Basil muttered.

"Oh, I hope Rector isn't mad." Raine said, unsure. She looked at Rector in the stands, who just stood there with a smile. Raine had done the best she could, and he was proud.

"Dang. I hope Falcone didn't see this." Nightscream complained.

Up in the stands, Cream cheered. Her husband had won the survival race within two laps.

The points earned: Tails (+5) (+3 for winning within two laps), Nightscream (+4), Basil (+4), and Wave and Raine each had no points, so they both got one point. The totals for them: Tails (22), Raine (31), Nightscream (22), Basil (19), and Wave (25). It was time for Howl and the power types. Howl was determined to win.

"Going against a bunch of power players? This isn't fair. But I can hold my own." Howl told himself.

Knuckles, Storm, Howl, Rampage, and Axel took their places.

3…2…1…GO!

Howl was the first one out of the starting gate. He sped down the slope and got the emerald. But it didn't last long. Knuckles boosted and took the emerald from him. He passed through the first gate, sped around the turn, and boosted towards the next gate. But that little move didn't pay off. He was zapped, and the emerald reset itself…right after the next gate.

Rampage was the first one to get it, and went through the tunnels. He boosted towards the next gate, and passed through it. He went on through the sharp turn, and launched himself towards the next gate. But Knuckles wanted that point, so he stole the emerald by bumping into Rampage. After Knuckles went through the gate, Rampage attacked and took the emerald back.

But that didn't last long. Storm came up from behind and attacked, stealing the emerald. He hit the ramp, landed, and went up the pulley. After passing the start line, he sped down the slope, and hit the ramp. He landed on the left side, and sped towards the gate. He passed through it, earning himself a point. But shortly after, Knuckles took the emerald, rounded the corner, and boosted towards the next gate. He passed through it, earning himself a third point.

"Two more to go." Knuckles said to himself.

Howl came up and attacked in the left tunnel. He got the emerald, and boosted to the next gate. He passed through it. Howl managed to keep the emerald through the next gate, around the sharp turn. He had two points. Then Knuckles, determined, came up and bumped him, taking the emerald. He hit the ramp, went up the pulley, sped past the start and down the slope, hit the next ramp, landed in the left side, and passed the gate. He managed to keep his air from running out. He passed the final gate to win.

"Knuckles wins." Gerald announced.

"No contest." Knuckles said.

"Aww. I lost." Storm complained.

"Damn it." Axel cursed.

"No way. This can't be." Rampage said.

"Why me?" Howl asked himself.

The results after this race: Knuckles (+5), Howl (+4), and Rampage, Axel, and Storm each got 3 points for having one goal. The total results: Knuckles (17), Howl (25), Rampage (22), Axel (12), and Storm (12).

"After looking back at the three races, Team Sonic has dominated this event. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all win. Congratulations." Gerald announced. "Well, with this over, we'll head to Splash Canyon, outside of Future City, for the next race. See you all there."

Gerald left, and the racers returned to their hotel rooms to sleep. They would board Jet's airship the next morning to go to Splash Canyon.

**End of Chapter 11.**

Team Sonic has dominated this event. Amazing.

The results:

Rector: 31

Raine: 31

Sonic: 31

Armand: 30

Galeon: 26

Wave: 25

Howl: 25

Rampage: 22

Tails: 22

Nightscream: 22

Basil: 19

Jet: 18

Knuckles: 17

Axel: 12

Storm: 12

TWO three way ties. One for first between Rector, Raine, and Sonic, and one for eighth between Rampage, Tails, and Nightscream. Talk about amazing and close. The next race could break it wide open.

Read, and you may review if you want.


	12. Splash Canyon Speeding

Ready for the next race?

This next race takes place in Splash Canyon. This isn't one of my top favorite tracks in the game itself, but it's a really nice track.

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners/authors.

**Chapter 12: Splash Canyon Speeding.**

At the end of the Night Chase Survival Race, these were the results: Rector (31), Raine (31), Sonic (31), Armand (30), Galeon (26), Wave (25), Howl (25), Rampage (22), Tails (22), Nightscream (22), Basil (19), Jet (18), Knuckles (17), Axel (12), and Storm (12). If this were a team race, Team Virtex would be in the lead. But it wasn't.

The racers were in Jet's airship, heading to Splash Canyon. The race would be in the afternoon, so they had plenty of time.

"Man, a three-way tie for first? I'm starting to feel the pressure." Rector said in the main room. It was basically a recreation room. It had everything that you would expect in such a room. Everyone was doing his or her own thing.

"I know how you feel. I feel like the tie will never be broken." Sonic agreed.

"Actually, that tie will be broken after today's race." Armand told them.

"It's true. A tie never exists for long, especially with 15 racers fighting for the top 7 positions." Storm agreed with Armand.

Wave hit Storm upside the head with her wrench.

"You dumbass. The top 5 go on, and two others from those teams that lost the preliminaries will enter." Wave said.

That cleared that up quickly. As soon as Wave cursed, everyone stopped doing what he or she were doing.

"Uhhh, I'll take my leave now." Wave said as she slowly left. She ducked into Jet's room, where Jet was looking outside the window.

"Jet, I need your help." Wave said nervously.

"What is it, Wave?" Jet asked.

"I…uhh…said…something I shouldn't have." Wave told him.

"And what might that have been?" Jet asked.

She told him.

"Aw, don't worry about it, Wave. There's nothing wrong with that." Jet told her.

"But, I never say things like that." Wave said, worriedly.

"Wave, come here." Jet said. Wave did so. "There are things that we all regret doing. But after a while, you'll forget that you said that, and everything will be okay."

"Are you sure?" Wave asked.

"Sure." Jet told her.

"Thanks, Jet. I now know that I have you to come to when I'm in trouble."

"That's not all you'll have me for."

They drew close. Their hearts were beating fast. Just as they were about to connect…

"HEY BOSS!"

Storm barged in all of a sudden, causing the two lovebirds (see what I did there?) to fall over. They weren't too happy with that.

"Storm, hasn't anyone told you to knock before entering a room?" Wave asked angrily.

"Sorry, but we're entering Splash Canyon now. We need somewhere to land." Storm apologized.

"Then go find somewhere to land." Jet told him.

"Yes sir." Storm said.

"Oh, and if you disturb me again, I'll do "it" to you."

"No. Not that! NOT THAT!"

"Then GET OUT!"

Jet then kicked Storm out. He then turned his attention to Wave.

"Now, where were we?"

Jet and Wave then turned to each other again. They drew closer to each other. As they were about to connect…

BOOM!

The resulting vibration knocked down Jet and Wave.

"Sorry for the rough landing, everyone, but we have landed in Splash Canyon." Storm announced on the ship's intercom. Jet was extremely ticked.

"Three, two, one…" Wave counted.

"THAT ALBATROSS IS A DEAD BIRD!" Jet yelled.

That was a signal to get out of the way. Jet came dashing through with his paper fans out. Everyone got out of the way. Nobody dared mess with Jet when he was this ticked. He rushed to the control room, where Storm was cowering with fear.

"Uh, I'm…sorry…boss." Storm tried to apologize.

"YOU'RE DEAD, STORM!" Jet yelled.

Gerald saved the day.

"Uh, guys, we're here. Get to the starting block." Gerald told them. Jet calmed down.

"I'll let you off this time. But if that happens again, you're dead. Got it?"

"Got it, boss."

They headed to the starting gate.

"Welcome to Splash Canyon, one of the most frantic places to race in. With waterfalls, rapids, and lakes, this is a disguised Extreme Gear trap. Luckily, all boards will be given water-resistant covers to resist the water. The rules remain the same as all of the normal races so far, so good luck, and wait for the gate to disappear."

Gerald finished his announcements, and headed to the announcer's booth. The racers got into position as the countdown started.

5…

4…

3…The racers started towards the gate.

2…

1…

GO!

The racers left the wooden bridge over the water and dashed down the catwalk above the river. Up ahead was a left turn that led to a drop-off ramp. There was a speed rail nearby for speeders. Sonic, Jet, Armand, Howl, and Galeon headed towards it. The others had to take the drop-off. Those who managed to jump it could hit an upper pathway. Flyers could hit a couple of flying accelerator rings to land up there. But Rector just dropped off. Why?

He saw something behind one of the miniature waterfalls. He went behind it to find…a 100-ring capsule. Rector couldn't believe his luck. He picked it up, and went to level 3. Everyone now had to watch out. Except for girls, whom Rector couldn't hit.

"Alright. Everyone, watch out. Rector's coming through." Rector said to himself.

Sonic was in the lead, and he had just landed on the top track after the ramp. This led to an earlier ride on the upcoming rapids. Some of the racers managed to make it to the top track, while the others hit the bottom path. Wave was one of those racers. She saw a waterfall to the left, and saw something behind it. She went through, and found a secret path of flying accelerator rings. As she went through them, she saw a rapids waterfall. She landed on it, rode down, and entered the main rapids. She landed ahead of Sonic, putting her in the lead. But knowing Sonic, he would take the lead back soon.

Back at the path just before the rapids, Rector was in dead last. Raine had fallen behind to 14th place. Armand had just entered the rapids.

"Oh, what do we do, Rector?" Raine asked.

"We'll just have to race our best, Raine." Rector said. "Let's catch up to Armand. I'm sure he has a plan."

It turns out he did. As they entered the rapids, they saw Armand swerve to avoid some rock outcroppings. They did the same, and saw him ascend a waterfall. Actually, he launched up it. Rector and Raine did the same, and caught up to Armand.

"Yo, Armand. Got a plan?" Rector called out.

"Actually, yes. This should get us back up to at least 5th. Rector, see that blockade on the left? Smash through it. Raine and I will follow." Armand replied.

In the area they were at, there was an abandoned ship steering wheel serving as a ramp to a speed rail, there was a flying ramp that led to flight accelerator rings, and the path that Armand mentioned was blocked with barrels.

Well, it was before Rector came barreling through (no pun intended). Raine and Armand followed up. They were now in 4th through 6th.

Up in the lead, the Babylon Rogues were rounding the sharp turn. Jet had the lead, followed by Wave, and then Storm. They were heading into Splash Canyon's Crystal Cave.

"Jet, is this Crystal Cave?" Wave asked as she raced through with Jet and Storm.

"It sure is. Once this race is over, we should come back here." Jet replied.

Behind them, Storm had an armful of crystals.

"Hey boss, look what I got."

"Storm, put those down. We'll come back later."

"Okay…ow."

Just then, Sonic decided to do a little bowling. He dodged Raine, Armand, and Rector, and hit the Rogues. He was at level two, so he just bowled on through, bringing him from 7th to the lead.

"Alright, I'm in the lead."

"AH-CHOO!"

That lead didn't last long. Jet recovered, then sneezed on Sonic.

"Aw, man, now I'll need another bath." Sonic complained.

Jet launched off of a ramp at the end, and landed on a hill-like rock. He sped down it, only to see Galeon pass by. He managed to reach 2nd in the cave, and went high enough to hit a rainbow path. He took the lead, and shot past the start/finish line. He headed down the starting slope.

"That bird has done it." Jet said.

Jet caught up and sneezed on Galeon. That didn't end too well. Rampage came barreling through, followed by Axel and Storm. The racers who weren't doing so well in the past races were dominating. Those who were dominating were falling behind. That was the way it would remain for the remainder of the race.

During lap two, Rector managed to make it to 5th place, but he got slowed down by hitting a wall. Axel bumped him into it near the rapids. Armand was attacked by Nightscream near the same area. Sonic fell back after misjudging his leap and falling into the lower river, located off-course. He was put back on, losing a lot of ground. Basil caught up to Wave, but was attacked by Storm. Basil recovered, but Storm had gotten away.

Those who had dominated were slipping. The tournament would surely be close after this race.

On lap three, Jet managed to get far ahead of the others. He was about 10 seconds in front of the 2nd place racer, which was Axel. He finished that way as well.

"I don't believe it. Jet wins by a long shot." Gerald announced.

About 12 seconds later, Axel came across, followed by Storm, Basil, and then Knuckles.

"Axel finishes 12 seconds after Jet crossed. Jet will get a 5 point bonus for finishing at least 10 seconds before another." Gerald announced.

The results: Jet (+15)(+5 bonus), Axel (+14), Storm (+13), Basil (+12), Knuckles (+11), Nightscream (+10), Tails (+9), Howl(+8), Galeon (+7), Raine (+6), Rector (+5), Wave (+4), Rampage (+3), Sonic (+2), and Armand (+1).

Armand was depressed, but he knew Emily would be with him to cheer him up.

After the race was over, Wave ran to Jet and hugged him.

"Jet, you were great in the race."

"You didn't do so bad yourself. Then again, it was your knowledge of Extreme Gear that helped me win."

Wave smiled at this. They both knew it was coming. They drew closer until…

"Way to go, boss!"

Storm ran up to Jet and embraced him, nearly crushing him. Jet wasn't too happy about being interrupted, but Rector knocked Storm away. Sonic nodded to Wave. She knew what that meant.

As Jet was trying to hold himself back from killing Storm, Wave grabbed Jet's shoulders, turned him around, and kissed him, beak to beak. Jet was shocked at the sudden action, but he didn't care. He returned it.

"Get a room." Gerald said.

Jet and Wave broke the kiss. They knew they would be together.

"I love you, Jet."

"I love you too, Wave."

They turned to the other racers. They were all giving some kind of congratulations. Some of the crowd was cheering. Gerald broke the noise with the next announcement.

"Alright everyone, we're bringing in the construction crew. The track will be redone in order to allow the Survival Race at the Red Canyon track. Come back at sunset, everyone."

Gerald ended the announcement, and left.

Everyone decided to take some time off. Jet and Wave went on a triple date. Sonic and Amy went with them, as well as Armand and Emily. Team Virtex, along with Storm, the rest of Team Berserker, the rest of Team Sonic, and Team Dynamic decided to help out with the "reconstruction".

They all looked forward to the next Survival Race.

**End of Chapter 12.**

Now that that's over, here are the results:

Jet: 38

Raine: 37

Rector: 36

Sonic: 33

Galeon: 33

Howl: 33

Nightscream: 32

Armand: 31

Tails: 31

Basil: 31

Wave: 29

Knuckles: 28

Axel: 26

Storm: 25

Rampage: 25

The standings have changed dramatically. Jet is now in the lead. This should keep you all looking out for the next chapter.

Read, and you may review if you want.


	13. Red Canyon: Surviving the Sunset

It's time for the next Survival Race. It's located at Red Canyon.

Shortly after the Splash Canyon race, Armand told everyone about what had happened to his father and his friends. But it's time for the next Survival Race.

**Chapter 13: Red Canyon: Surviving the Sunset.**

In the last race, Jet won and took the lead in points, all the way from 12th place. He also found his girlfriend in Wave, who just kissed him all of a sudden. The standings were: Jet (38), Raine (37), Rector (36), Sonic (33), Galeon (33), Howl (33), Nightscream (32), Armand (31), Tails (31), Basil (31), Wave (29), Knuckles (28), Axel (26), Storm (25), and Rampage (25). The standings were definitely close, with only 13 points separating 1st from last.

"Alright, the construction for the Red Canyon track has been completed. As you'll go along the track, you'll notice the changes. You know the rules, so good luck. As usual, the first racers will be the team leaders. Remember, 5 points in 5 minutes. Now, get to the starting block, and wait for the gate to disappear." Gerald announced.

Sonic, Jet, Rector, Armand, and Galeon took their places.

3…

2…

1…

GO!

Sonic was first off the line, followed by Galeon, Rector, Jet, and then Armand. There were two barricades near the beginning. The Chaos Emerald was waiting between them. Sonic, being in the lead, got it first. Up ahead, where there was a drop-off, there was a rock wall blocking it off. However, a nearby cave had opened. The first gate was just outside the entrance. Sonic boosted through it, earning the first point easily.

"Oh yeah. Now I just need four more." Sonic said.

But that didn't last long. Rector came up and used a Leaf Whirlwind Kick on Sonic, stealing the emerald in the process. He jumped off of the upcoming ramp, followed by Armand, who was closing in. Rector laid a tornado that Armand got caught up in. There were two ways out of the cave, but the hard left path was blocked off, so they had to drop down. As they exited the cave, the next gate was in sight. It was just before the rapids. Behind the nearby waterfall was a power barricade, but it was blocked off since in Survival Races, shortcuts were not allowed.

Rector sped through the gate, then hit the rapids. Normally, there would be rock outcroppings in the rapids, but they had been removed for safety reasons. At the end, a waterfall launched them up. Rector landed first in the small lake area. This place had the same power barricade as in Splash Canyon. The flight type shortcut had been moved, and the wheel ramp was still there, and in a normal race, the rail would have been there, including an extra one that led around the sharp turn. As they entered the walled area, the flying accelerators had been moved there, with them leading over the gap that made up the sharp turn.

The next gate was just ahead. It was in front of the water wheel. Rector slid around the corner and headed for it. Crystal Cave had been blocked off, but the water wheel led to another area, above the main entrance. Rector earned his second point, then headed up the water wheel. Armand, never one to give up, followed suit. As they hit the top, there was a ramp leading to a straight path. It ended at a waterfall. Armand tried to attack, but Rector laid another tornado. Armand hit it, and was frustrated.

"Damn. Now I've got to catch up again." Armand cursed.

Rector sped through the waterfall. There were 3 places to drop off. The right path was the easiest, and the fastest, but in a Survival Race, you risked a higher chance of missing the next gate. The left path would make you jump, but you'd go down faster. You had the same chance of missing the gate, though. The center path, which led to a rock drop-off, would slow you down, but put you on a straight path to the gate. Rector took his chances, and hit the middle. He passed through the next gate, picking up his third point.

Armand hit the right path, and caught up to Rector. He attacked, but Rector laid yet another tornado. Unfortunately, this caused Rector to run low on air. Armand dodged the tornado, and attacked Rector, stealing the emerald. Armand finally had his chance for points.

"Finally, my chance has come." Armand said to himself.

And it did. Armand sped down the slope, and went through the gate, picking up his first point. He shot off the ramp, and landed. He went on to the drop-off in the cave, and boosted to regain speed. Galeon was closing in, though. He hit the drop-off, and boosted towards Armand. Armand saw it, though, and just as Galeon was about to attack, Armand let loose a tornado, which Galeon hit.

"Damn you, tiger!" Galeon cursed.

Armand went on to score a second point. He hit the rapids at a high speed. Galeon, determined to score a point, followed. As they hit the upward waterfall, Galeon boosted too quickly, and hit a wall when going out of control. Armand hit the wheel ramp, and gained some air. It didn't last long, though, as Galeon recovered quickly and attacked Armand.

"Yeah, now it's my turn." Galeon gloated.

"Don't you know, gloating is just a sign that you're showing off?" Armand asked.

"I don't care, tiger. Why don't you…" Galeon began, but remembered what happened last time he said what he was going to say. Galeon shuddered at the thought, which haunted him. He did NOT want to face Armand like that again.

"What were you about to say?" Armand asked.

"Uh, nothing." Galeon said, nervous.

Galeon sped ahead, wanting to get ahead. He went through the walled area, around the turn, through the gate, and hit the water wheel. He went up it, but as soon as he landed, he got attacked. Armand had caught up and stole the emerald.

"It's mine, now." Armand taunted.

"Grr. No way!" Galeon said.

But it didn't last long. Rector had been slowly catching up, leaving Sonic and Jet in the dust. He attacked Armand and stole the emerald, went down the waterfall, and went through the gate. Rector only needed one more point to win.

It didn't take long. Galeon and Armand had tried to catch up, but were slowed down at the waterfall. Rector sped down the slope, and passed through the final gate to clinch the win.

"And Rector wins the Survival Battle!" Gerald announced.

"OH YEAH! VIRTEX RULES!" Rector shouted.

The crowd went wild. The results: Rector (+5), Armand (+4), Galeon (+3), Sonic(+3), and Jet had no goals, so he got one point. Their points were now Rector (41), Armand (35), Galeon (36), Sonic (36), and Jet (39). Rector had recaptured the lead for now.

It was time for the flying Survival Race.

"Will the flight types for each team come out?" Gerald requested.

Tails, Wave, Nightscream, Raine, and Basil came out to the start line.

3…

2…

1…

GO!

Basil was the first out, followed by Raine, Nightscream, Tails, and Wave. The emerald had been reset on the course, so it was at its usual starting place. Being the first one out, Basil was the first one to get it.

"Time to see if my luck plays out." Basil said to himself.

Basil played smartly. Since he was a defending player, he had gained an ability that allowed him to look back as if he had a rearview mirror. He gained this ability about 9 years ago, before he, Armand, Basil, Zeus, Mintra, and Hurricane took on Eggman Nega (more on that in The Legend of Tobias Novak). He saw Tails and Wave ganging up on him, so he let loose a tornado. All four of his opponents got caught up in it. Basil easily scored the first point. He needed four more to clinch his first win. Raine had recovered quickly, however, and was making a dash for Basil. Just after the ramp was when she caught him.

"Sorry, Basil." Raine apologized as she threw a stomach virus powder on him, causing him to spin out. Seeing as how it was a stomach virus powder, Basil threw up after he recovered.

"Ugh. Those potions and powders of hers are really strong." Basil complained.

Raine had the emerald. She shot out of the cave, and headed towards the gate. She passed through it, and hit the rapids. Making her way through, she shot up the waterfall with Basil close behind. Just as he was about to attack, Tails came through and did so.

"My apologies, Raine." Tails said as he attacked her.

Raine recovered and got back on her board. She had nearly fallen off when attacked. Basil sped ahead as Raine went through the walled area, and slid around the sharp turn. Tails had already reached the water wheel, picking up his first point from the gate before. Raine and Basil followed behind, both determined to reach the emerald. Nightscream had been left behind, so it was likely he would come in last. He had just shot up the waterfall. Up ahead, he saw Wave disappear. She had gone through the small cove and was headed to the sharp turn. In the upper area of Crystal Cave, Tails had just emerged from the waterfall. As he sped down it, Raine caught up to him and bumped him, taking the emerald. She scored her second point.

"I'm in the lead. I hope I win." Raine hoped.

Raine continued through the starting block, between the barricades, and sped through the open area. She passed through the next gate. Only two more points. She went into the cave, and hit the ramp. Basil followed, and Tails came up behind Basil. Raine wasn't worried though. As they caught up, she laid a tornado once she was out of the cave. She approached the rapids, sped through the gate, and hit the rapids. She needed one more point to win.

"Only one more. I'm almost there." Raine told herself.

She went up the waterfall at the end, and landed in the small lake. She went through the cove, and sped around the turn. Basil had caught up. But just as he was about to attack, Raine passed through the next gate, and got the final point.

"Whoa! Raine wins by a long shot." Gerald announced.

"I won. I don't believe it." Raine said, proud of herself.

"Alright, Raine!" Rector yelled.

The results: Raine (+5), Basil (+4), Tails (+4), Wave (+1), and Nightscream (+1). Basil and Tails had each gotten one goal, so they both technically finished in second place. Wave and Nightscream didn't get any goals, so they were awarded one point each. The results after this race: Raine (42), Basil (35), Tails (35), Wave (30), and Nightscream (33). Raine had recaptured the lead in the standings. It was time for the power types, as well as Howl, to race.

"Will Howl and the power players report to the start line?" Gerald requested.

Howl, Rampage, Storm, Axel, and Knuckles got to the start line.

3…

2…

1…

GO!

Howl got off the line first, followed by Storm, Knuckles, Axel, and then Rampage. As he was the first one out, Howl got the emerald. He was determined to win, and show that he could take on anybody, even power types. He passed through the first gate with ease. He hit the ramp, but as he landed, Storm came up and bumped him, taking the emerald. Knuckles boosted, and attacked Storm, stealing the emerald. Rampage bumped into him and took it. Axel attacked and stole it. Then Howl bumped into Axel and took it back. The emerald had just gone in a complete circle of possession (so to speak). Howl managed to keep it until the next gate, where he scored his second point. The 5 racers hit the rapids, wanting to make it through as quickly as possible. Howl couldn't stand the other four behind him.

"Man, why did I have to be put with these four in the survival race?" Howl asked himself.

They shot up the waterfall, and landed in the lake. Howl hit the wheel ramp, and went the farthest, giving him a lead. He sped through the cove, slid around the sharp turn, and passed through the third gate, before the water wheel, all while the other four were chasing him.

Howl was dominating the race. It wouldn't be long before he won. He sped through Crystal Cave and headed down the waterfall. The others got slowed down because they hit the small jump, but Howl rode down the waterfall. He picked up the fourth point. If he won right now, he would pick up five bonus points for a shutout. He sped through the starting block, down the slope, between the barricades, and through the open area. He came upon the final gate. The others were closing in, so Howl had to hurry. He kicked the booster and sped through the final gate. Howl had won.

"THAT was amazing. Howl managed to win without the others scoring any points. He will gain 5 bonus points." Gerald announced.

"Yes! I won the race. Perfect!" Howl said.

The results: Howl gained 5 points for winning, plus 5 bonus points for a shutout. The others got one point each for not having scored. The standings: Howl (43), Storm (26), Rampage (26), Axel (27), and Knuckles (29). Howl had taken the lead, and now Team Virtex held the top three positions. As if that wasn't enough, Team Virtex had dominated the Red Canyon Survival Race. (Babylon Sky Hawk's going to really go paranoid when he reads this.)

"It's amazing. Team Virtex is dominating the competition. Not only did they win all three Survival Races today, they also hold the top three spots in the standings. And there's only one point separating the three. Well, tomorrow, we all head to Eggman's Egg Factory for the next race. He has set up the course himself. See you there, and don't forget to bring something to keep you cool, because it's a blast furnace in there."

As he was leaving, he remembered something.

"Oh yeah, after the Snow Valley Survival Battle, the racers in 11th through 15th places will be out of the tournament. Well, see ya." Gerald announced, surprising everyone. The competition would really get tough now.

Gerald took his leave, and everyone headed to the Egg Factory track.

**End of Chapter 13.**

That wraps up the Survival Race.

The standings (Those who are currently in danger of being knocked out will be in bold lettering and underlined):

Howl: 43

Raine: 42

Rector: 41

Jet: 39

Sonic: 36

Galeon: 36

Tails: 35

Armand: 35

Basil: 35

Nightscream: 33

**Wave: 30**

**Knuckles: 29**

**Axel: 27**

**Storm: 26**

**Rampage: 26**

Uh oh. Wave, Knuckles, Axel, Storm, and Rampage are in danger of being knocked out of the competition. Will they catch up?

Team Virtex had dominated this Survival Race. Can they keep up the lead? Or will someone else take the lead soon? Only one way to find out.

Read, and you may review if you want.


	14. Egg Factory: The Competition Heats Up

It's time for the next race.

In the last race, which was a Survival Race, Team Virtex dominated, throwing them in the top three positions. But will they keep it?

The next race takes place in Eggman's blast furnace.

**Chapter 14: Egg Factory: The Competition Heats Up.**

It was time for the next standard race. After the Red Canyon Survival Race, the standings look like this (those in danger of being knocked out of the tournament will have their name in bold): Howl (43), Raine (42), Rector (41), Jet (39), Sonic (36), Galeon (36), Tails (35), Armand (35), Basil (35), Nightscream (33), **Wave (30), Knuckles (29), Axel (27), Storm (26), and Rampage (26).**

Wave, Knuckles, Axel, Storm, and Rampage were in danger of being knocked out of the tournament after the Snow Valley Survival Battle. But that was in a few days.

Right now, the door opened at Eggman's factory. The track had been set up in the blast furnace. The boards had been equipped with a coolant tank to keep the boards from malfunctioning due to the extreme heat. The racers had cold water bottles and heat-resistant gear, courtesy of Eggman himself. Not only was the gear durable and able to resist heat, but it was also flexible, so the racers had total movement. Also, the gear was colored to match the racers' colors, and had a team symbol.

Team Sonic's symbol was what looked like a spin-dashing Sonic.

Team Babylon's symbol was the golden Babylonian lamp.

Team Dynamic's symbol was a black Babylonian lamp.

Team Berserker's symbol looked like Tobias, Armand's father.

Team Virtex's symbol was Rector's black kanji symbols, representing strength and heart.

The stands had been encased in cooling glass, so the spectators could stay cool.

Gerald was in his own heat-resistant uniform. He began the pre-race announcements.

"Welcome to the Egg Factory track, everyone. Eggman himself preserved the track in the case that a tournament would take everyone to the track. Well, here we are. As you all know, this place is a blast furnace, so everyone has heat-resistant gear, and the boards have coolant tanks. The race is expected to go smoothly. Also, care has been taken to make sure nobody falls in the lava. There are propulsion fields over the lava, so if you fall off, you won't fall in the lava, but you'll lose all of your rings, since you fell off, so watch out for that. We've also placed a 100-ring capsule on the track, but it's in a dangerous area, and you may lose it just as quickly as you get it. The rules are standard racing rules, so I won't go over them. Well, that's all you need to know, so get ready to race, and stay cool."

Gerald finished up, and headed to the announcer's booth. The racers got ready, checked their boards and gear, and got into position. The countdown started.

5…4…3…2…1…

GO!

The race started. Jet was first off the line, and the rest followed. Just after the start/finish line was a steep slope that led to a ramp at the bottom of it. Being the first one out, Jet was the first one to reach it. He jumped off and went high into the air. Some of the others did as well, but some didn't get a good jump and took a couple more seconds to land.

At the landing, there were a couple of yellow security robots, ready to attack anybody passing by. Because they were considered obstacles, power types would have no problem. At the end of the straightaway, there was a drop-off that doubled as a ramp. By hitting the ramp, speed types could access a rail that allowed them to bypass a sharp corner, and flying types could access a couple of accelerator rings to cut the corner. Power types had no choice but to take the corner with an air slide. After a short straightaway, there was a hairpin turn. Using air slides, the racers bypassed it with no problem. There were a couple more robots to complicate things.

After the turn, there was a ramp. If you went high enough, you could take a shorter path to the propulsion fan. The lower route had a longer path, and included an extra 90-degree turn. Nobody could hit the top ramp, so Jet, who was still in the lead, started a turbulence pipe for the others to follow. Actually, he was going at high speed, so the turbulence pipe started on its own. He led everyone into the propulsion fan, which shot them up to the next level.

"Up we go!" Jet said.

They all hit the next level at a low speed, courtesy of the impact from the landing. There was a steep incline on the left, but flying types had an advantage.

How? On the right was a flight starter that led to a few accelerator rings. This led to the upper area better than the slow incline. Raine, being the first of them, took that path, as well as the others. They took the lead, from 1st to 5th. Jet wasn't too happy about that.

"Damn. Flying types ahead of me? Not for long." Jet said.

At the top, there was a barricade of barrels that power types could smash through. In the area, there were lava falls, which were waterfalls of lava. If you were hit by one, you'd get a serious burn. Fortunately, the heat-resistant suits would protect them. The lava falls would only slow them down. There was a quarter-pipe on the right. If anyone needed a quick refill of air, they could use that for that little job. But its biggest attraction was a huge advantage to speed types. There was a rail that led around the double 90-degree turn and bypassed a short area of the track. That led to another rail that would take them to the next ramp.

Sonic, who was in 8th place, had just reached level 2, so he saw an opportunity to go bowling.

"I guess it's time for some bowling." Sonic said.

With that, Sonic started his level 2 attack, and bowled through the racers in this order: Armand, Jet, Nightscream, Tails, Wave, Basil, and in first place, Raine. Sonic, after doing this, took the lead. But Rector wasn't too happy about that, what with Sonic attacking Raine.

"That hedgehog has done it now!" Rector told himself.

Rector attacked Sonic during the double 90-degree turn. He was at level 2, so the attack sent Sonic spinning…straight into a wall. It took Sonic a while to recover, and the time lost put him back in last place. He wasn't too happy with Rector and what he had done.

"That Rector's going to pay. I know he cares about Raine, but this IS a competition. There's no rule that says you can't hit specific people. He's the only exception, since he's so chivalrous."

Sonic regained his balance and previous speed. The next part of the track was a short upward incline, then a few dash plates led to a large, wide curve. There were spinning capsules, and they were spinning very fast. But Sonic saw the 100-ring capsule near the edge, past the spinning capsules. He weaved between two of them, picked it up, and weaved between two others to get out. He saw a crooked sign on a slightly different colored wall, and he knew it was a power type shortcut. But nobody had bothered to take it.

Around the curve was a split in the path. To the right was a ramp. Past that was a tight turn, a couple of robots, and purple robots that looked like the robot Zero being taken to the next area of production. After the tight turn was a short straightaway that led to a mechanical zip-line like in Metal City. On the left was a few rings, but the path led to another zip-line and looked much shorter than the right path. Sonic took a quick look and saw that every racer had taken the right path, so he took the left. He hit the zip-line.

At the end of it, Sonic took the lead. Nobody could believe it.

"No way! Sonic actually got the lead when he wasn't taking the same path as us?" Rector questioned.

"Well, of course he did. Otherwise, he would still be in last." Galeon told him.

"Zip it, blue jay!"

"Shut up, hedgehog."

As they continued to argue, Knuckles took the time to speed past them. Armand did the same. But Wave came up and took the lead as they rounded the sharp corner. The upcoming drop-off would lead them back to the start/finish line to begin the second lap.

"Alright. I'm finally in the lead." Wave said to herself.

The second lap began. Everyone jumped off of the ramp and landed on the main track. Nightscream, after landing, attacked Wave to take the lead for himself. That didn't last long, as Armand attacked and took it. After the drop-off and the 90-degree turn, Rampage attacked Armand. The lead was constantly changing, with attacks and overtakes. This would probably be the most exciting part of the race.

After the sharp turn and the ramp, everyone landed on the top track. This piece of track had a shorter straightaway, as well as only one 90-degree turn. It led to the fan that boosted them up to the upper level.

Later, in the area with the spinning capsules, Storm noticed the lopsided sign. He wondered what was behind it.

"That sign looks weird. I wonder…"

Storm decided to push through it, and found a shortcut. There were only two problems: He busted the wall in full view of the other racers, and he was going at high speed, so there was a turbulence trail that the others followed.

"Aw man, I guess they saw me." Storm complained.

The shortcut was an upward straightaway, followed by a 180-degree turn, then a 90-degree turn after another short straightaway. This led to a high ramp where if you jumped high enough, you could touch the ceiling. The ramp jump led to the hairpin turn that led to the start/finish. Storm had the lead.

It wouldn't stay that way for long. Sonic took the lead, and the lead changes started again. Near the end of the final lap, Galeon took the lead, and kept it until the finish line.

Well, until Wave passed him at the last second.

"And in the last second of this race, Wave wins." Gerald announced.

"I won. Yes!" Wave said, happy that she won.

"Way to go, Wave. I knew you could do it." Jet said as he kissed her.

"As my brother said before, get a room, you two lovebirds." Sonic said.

"Don't push it." Jet said.

The results were like this: Wave (+15), Galeon (+14), Rampage (+13), Armand (+12), Axel (+11), Jet (+10), Sonic (+9), Rector (+8), Knuckles (+7), Basil (+6), Raine (+5), Storm (+4), Tails (+3), Nightscream (+2), and Howl (+1).

"That's it for this race. Come back in a little while and the factory will be frozen and changed for the Ice Factory Survival Race. Everyone will have cold-resistant gear for that track. All gear and stands will be given heaters to stay warm in the cold. See you all then."

Gerald wrapped up the announcements, then left.

Everyone went to the gear locker room, where they found their cold-resistant suits waiting. They were still the same color as the racers, and the team symbols remained the same. They put up the heat-resistant gear and rested up for the next race.

**End of Chapter 14.**

Well, that ends the Egg Factory Race. The results are as follows:

Galeon: 50

Jet: 49

Rector: 49

Armand: 47

Raine: 47

Wave: 45

Sonic: 45

Howl: 44

Basil: 41

Rampage: 39

**Axel: 38**

**Tails: 38**

**Knuckles: 36**

**Nightscream: 35**

**Storm: 30**

Axel, Tails, Knuckles, Nightscream, and Storm are on the bubble. From these results, Sonic may lose the others on his team. They'll have to race harder than ever to get back up. Galeon has the lead, but will it last?

Read, and you may review if you want.


	15. Ice Factory: Riders and Ice

It's time for the next race.

This Survival Race takes place in the Ice Factory.

Ready? Let's race.

Sega owns Sonic and co. OCs belong to their respective owners. I own this story and Team Berserker.

**Chapter 15: Ice Factory: Riders and Ice.**

After the Egg Factory race, a cold front in the weather kicked in and hit the factory big time, freezing it over. The track's layout had to be changed to accommodate the temperature change.

The current standings looked like this: Galeon (50), Jet (49), Rector (49), Armand (47), Raine (47), Wave (45), Sonic (45), Howl (44), Basil (41), Rampage (39), **Axel (38), Tails (38), Knuckles (36), Nightscream (35), and Storm (30).**

The racers had changed into a cold-resistant suit and their boards were equipped with an antifreeze mechanism to prevent stalling. The stands now had hot-air blasters to keep spectators warm while they watched. Gerald came out in his own special suit and began the announcements.

"Welcome to the cold Ice Factory track, so named because…well, I think you know why. The Egg Factory track has been changed. Roughly one-half of the track is simply a reverse of the original. There are a couple of new areas, and a couple of areas have not been changed. You'll notice as you go around. Remember, this will be a Survival Race, so be sure to score 5 points in 5 minutes. But, seeing how the other Survival Races went, I'm sure that's no problem. Well, I don't need to go over the rules, because you already know them. With that, good luck, and stay warm."

Gerald finished the announcements, then headed to the announcer's booth.

"Alright, will the team leaders please take their positions?" Gerald requested.

Sonic, Rector, Armand, Galeon, and Jet took their positions.

3…2…1…

GO!

The race started. Armand was the first one out, followed by Galeon, Jet, Sonic, and then Rector.

The track began with the slope that headed downwards, leading to a ramp. The beginning part was one of the few areas that hadn't changed. The first gate was before the ramp, and the emerald started right past it. Armand picked up the emerald and launched off of the ramp. Below it was another part that remained the same. Armand landed and started heading towards the drop-off. Up ahead, he saw a couple of robots cleaning up the factory. But these robots wouldn't hesitate to attack if they could. Armand dodged both of them, and hit the drop-off. If this were a normal race, there would have been a speed rail that would shave time off. But there wasn't one, since it was considered a shortcut.

There was a 90-degree turn, a short straightaway, and then a hairpin turn that led to a ramp. In front of the ramp was the first gate. Although he was being chased, Armand managed to score his first point.

"That's one point. Only four more to go." Armand told himself.

After the ramp were two paths. The upper path was a faster one to the transfer pulleys, but it was blocked off. The lower path had some robots, a 90-degree turn, and a long turn that led to the pulleys. At the far left was a quarter-pipe that led to a flight shortcut in a normal race. It led to the next area without having to take the pulleys. As Armand rounded the turn, he saw the gate up in the distance, in the long turn. Here, the track split in two paths. One was shorter than the other. There would have been a speed rail that would have shot the speeders around the turn. Also, there would have been propeller blades that could be bashed through.

Armand boosted towards the gate, but was attacked by Sonic, who got the point instead. As they rounded the turn, they could see the entrance to the pulleys. Sonic headed in first. The pulley lifted him up, then took him through a small portion of the factory. The others followed behind. As they emerged, they could see the next gate up ahead. Sonic boosted towards, but Armand attacked, took back the emerald, and got the next point.

"That's two for me." Armand said.

"Damn you, Armand. That was my point." Sonic cursed.

Sonic tried to attack Armand, but he was already around the corner. However, Sonic did an air slide while boosting, and managed to hit Armand. Sonic took the emerald as they were bypassing the frozen capsules. When the track wasn't frozen, the capsules were spinning around. They headed down the slope. Sonic had the emerald, but Rector passed Armand and attacked Sonic. They rounded the sharp turn. There was a blocked off ice wall that, in a normal race, led to a max-air power up. Max-air power ups were quite rare. Only a handful of tracks contained them, and even fewer were easily accessible. Around the corner, there were two quarter-pipes on the sides. The left one would lead to some flight accelerator rings, and the right would lead to a speed rail.

Rector could see the next gate up ahead. The next area was kind of a slalom that led to a ramp, then a hairpin turn to the start/finish. Rector passed through the gate, then hit the ramp up ahead. He landed, rounded the turn, and sped across the start/finish to begin lap two. Time elapsed was 1:04. More than a minute had passed for one lap.

Rector passed through the next gate, thus tying his score with Armand's. Jet, who had yet to score, finally had enough. He hit the ramp after Rector, and stole the emerald when he landed.

"This race will be mine." Jet said.

"I'll get that emerald back." Rector vowed.

Jet had already hit the drop-off, sped around the corner, then the turn, and passed through the gate. He hit the ramp, and landed. He was determined to win, and he wasn't about to let anyone take that chance away. He sped around the corner, and saw the next gate up ahead. He boosted towards it, passed through it, and sped through the turn. He went through the transport pulleys, and landed in the area with the frozen capsules. He was ahead, and he was determined to keep it that way. He passed through the next gate, putting him in the lead. He sped through the turn, making sure not to bump into the capsules.

"Looks like I've lost them. Now to finish this."

Jet rounded the sharp turn, and boosted through the next gate. He was about to win. He launched off of the ramp, landed, sped around the turn, passed the start/finish line, and passed through the final gate. Time elapsed was 2:16.

"Jet pulls off an amazing victory!" Gerald announced.

"Oh yeah. I'm the best!" Jet taunted.

The results: Jet (+5), Rector (+4), Armand (+4), Sonic (+3), and Galeon didn't score, so he got 1 point. Rector and Armand tied for second, and Sonic technically got third place. The standings for them were: Jet (54), Rector (53), Armand (51), Galeon (51), and Sonic (48).

It was time for the flight Survival Race.

"Will the flying types please report to the start line?" Gerald requested.

Tails, Wave, Nightscream, Raine, and Basil went to the starting line.

3…2…1…

GO!

Wave was the first one out of the starting line, followed by Raine, Basil, Nightscream, and finally Tails. Being the first one out, Wave was the first to pick up the emerald. She launched off of the ramp, landed on the next area, sped past the robots, and hit the drop-off. She sped around the corner, through the hairpin turn, and through the gate, giving her a point.

"That's the first one." Wave said to herself.

She launched off of the ramp and landed on the next part of the track. The others were catching up to her, but she wasn't about to let them steal the emerald. She boosted around the corner, and sped towards the gate. She passed through it, getting her second point, before having the emerald get stolen by her rival, Tails.

"See ya, Wave."

"Get back here, Shorty!" Wave yelled.

Wave jumped to regain her boost, then attacked Tails and immediately took back the emerald. She grabbed onto one of the mechanical pulleys and allowed herself to be carried to the next area, where she boosted towards the next gate. She passed through it, getting her third point. The others were again catching up.

"Hmph. These racers don't know when to give up." Wave commented to herself.

She laid a tornado, which the other four hit, and boosted afterwards. She was running low on air, and hoped she had enough to last her. As she rounded the hairpin turn, her air went into the danger zone. Luckily for her, there were item capsules nearby. She hit one and gained 50 air. It was enough to keep her going. She passed through the next gate in the sub-slalom. Only one more point to go. She hit the ramp ahead, landed, and rounded the corner. After passing the start/finish line, she passed through the final gate, giving her the win.

"Amazing! Wave wins with a shutout. That's 5 bonus points. Congratulations Wave." Gerald announced.

The results: Wave earned 5 points, plus 5 bonus points for a shutout, giving her 10 points. The others, who hadn't scored, gained 1 point each. Their standings were: Wave (55), Raine (48), Basil (42), Tails (39), and Nightscream (36).

It was time for Howl and the power types to come out.

"Will the remaining racers please get to the starting line?" Gerald requested.

Howl, Knuckles, Storm, Rampage, and Axel walked up to the starting line.

3…2…1…

GO!

Axel was the first one out, followed by Storm, Rampage, Knuckles, and then Howl. Axel got the emerald, and launched off of the ramp, landing on the track below. He hit the drop-off, made the turn, and was going through the hairpin turn when he was attacked by Storm, who stole the emerald in the process. So Storm got the first point of the race.

"Victory will be mine." Storm said.

"Not if I can help it." A voice said from behind him.

The next thing Storm knew, Knuckles attacked and took the emerald. Unfortunately, he took a longer time landing on the next stretch of track. The others got ahead, then stopped, waiting for Knuckles to pass by. Knuckles stopped, hoping he could wait out the clock. Unfortunately, he forgot that in a Survival Race, stopping while in possession of the emerald saps air faster than a large trail of turbulence could make you go. So…

BZZZZT!

Knuckles got zapped, and the emerald was reset…right before the next gate. Storm boosted ahead, picked it up, and scored his second point. Would Storm dominate like Wave did?

Storm rounded the turn, sped through the transport pulleys, and landed in the next area. He boosted, and shot through the next gate, earning him his third point. He passed the large frozen capsules, headed down the slope, made the sharp turn, and sped towards the next gate. He passed through it, earning him his fourth point. Just one more, and the Babylon Rogues will have dominated this Survival Race. He sped through the sub-slalom, jumped off of the ramp, rounded the corner, and sped across the start/finish. He then passed through the final gate, giving him the win.

"Storm wins with a shutout. It's amazing. The Babylon Rogues have dominated this Survival Race!" Gerald announced.

"Victory is mine." Storm said.

The results: Storm gained 5 points for the win, and 5 bonus points for a shutout. Everyone else got one point. Their standings: Storm (40), Axel (39), Knuckles (37), Howl (45), and Rampage (40).

The Ice Factory Survival Race was over.

"That concludes this Survival Race. Meet us in Green Cave, located deep in Soleanna Forest, for the next race. See you all there."

Gerald concluded the announcements, then left.

In the locker room, Jet and Wave shared a kiss for winning.

"You raced so well, Jet." Wave said.

"You did too, Wave." Jet replied.

They hugged each other. The others were too busy to notice. Storm ran up to Jet and broke them apart. This ticked Jet off.

"Boss, the ship is ready to go."

"Storm, remember what I said I'd do if you did that again?" Jet asked.

"Uh oh."

Jet chased Storm down, intending to make him pay for the interruption.

"Well, Jet's chasing Storm, as usual." Sonic said.

"I wonder what will happen." Armand said.

"We'll find out." Knuckles said.

They headed to the airship to take off for the next area.

**End of Chapter 15.**

Well, that was kind of short. Oh well. It suits me fine.

Here are the standings:

Wave: 55

Jet: 54

Rector: 53

Armand: 51

Galeon: 51

Sonic:48

Raine: 48

Howl: 45

Basil: 42

Storm: 40

**Rampage: 40**

**Tails: 39**

**Axel: 39**

**Knuckles: 37**

**Nightscream: 36**

Wave has shot into the lead. Rampage, Tails, Axel, Knuckles, and Nightscream need to catch up. There are only three more events before the five racers in the last five places are out.

Read, and you may review if you want.


	16. Forest Race in Green Cave

It's time for the next race, which is the last one in this half of the tournament.

There has been a change in the elimination rules. During the story, Gerald will reveal it.

Well, I'm getting excited, and I know you all are, so I'll get to it.

Disclaimer: Sega owns Sonic and co. OCs belong to their respective owners.

**Chapter 16: Forest Race in Green Cave**

All of the racers had reported to a deep part of Soleanna Forest, where the Green Cave track was located. There were only a few events before the 5 racers in 11th through 15th places were eliminated from the competition. The standings looked like this: Wave (55), Jet (54), Rector (53), Armand (51), Galeon (51), Sonic (48), Raine (48), Howl (45), Basil (42), Storm (40),** Rampage (40), Tails (39), Axel (39), Knuckles (37), and Nightscream (36).**

Sonic and Galeon were worried, and they had a reason to be. The other members of their teams were about eliminated. If they weren't able to pick up their game, Sonic and Galeon would be the only ones of their teams remaining. That wouldn't go too well for them.

Gerald was ready with the announcements, so as soon as the audience was settled, he began.

"Before I go through with the usual, I want to make a revelation. It's about how elimination will work. After the White Cave Survival Race, the last 5 in the standings will be eliminated."

This bit of news caused the crowd to gasp, as well as cause the racers to become a little nervous.

"Afterwards, the second-half of the tournament will begin, with the remaining racers starting out with a cleared score of no points. Later, after the Sega Illusion Survival Race, those in 6th through 10th will be eliminated. In the Space Theater Survival Battle, we'll bring out Teams Star, Velocity, Music, and Legendary for a free-for-all battle to earn the last two spots. In that race, the last two standing will earn the right to fill in the two final spots for the final race."

With that information out of the way, Gerald started the main announcements.

"Now, for the main announcements. Welcome to Soleanna Forest, where the next race will be held in the Green Cave track. This track is known for being one of the most natural tracks ever designed. A lot of it is actually made up of the forest itself. This is a standard race, so standard rules apply. You all know them, so I'm not going over them. Oh, and this small note applies to Rampage, Tails, Axel, Knuckles, and Nightscream: I'd start racing harder if I were you. With your totals, you'll be eliminated if you don't pick up your scores by the end of the next Survival Race. Now that that's over, get into position, and get ready to race."

Gerald wrapped up the announcements, and headed to the announcer's booth.

The 15 racers took positions at the starting line.

5…4…3…2…1…

GO!

The race began. Sonic was the first one out of the gate. Right after the starting line was a downward slope that led to a ramp at the bottom. Sonic, who was speeding down the slope, left a trail of turbulence that the others rode. The ramp led to a long spiral wrapping around one of the biggest trees anybody had ever seen. Sonic jumped off of the ramp, followed by the others. Armand was right behind him.

After landing, the start of the spiral was one of the areas where attacks were common. Armand, Howl, and Nightscream made a good example of that by attacking Sonic, Storm, and Axel, respectively, with level 1 attacks. This caused a lead change.

Before the spiral started, speeders could access a rail that took them all the way down it. Armand noticed it, but he was too far ahead of the start of the rail, so he had to pass it. Howl was in the same position, so he couldn't access it. Sonic, who had been attacked before it, could access it. Galeon and Jet, who had just landed from the first ramp, could also access it. They jumped on, and it took them a little ways before a gap in the rail. They jumped it, and landed on the second part of it. It took them to the bottom.

Knuckles and Rector, in the lead until Sonic, Galeon, and Jet came off the rail, saw a barricade. As the others made a turn, Knuckles punched through the barricade, with Rector following him.

"I never even knew this was here." Knuckles said.

"Well, when you actually pay attention, you notice things you never even knew was there." Rector told him.

"I'm going to ignore the 'pay attention' part." Knuckles told him.

They went through the shortcut, and emerged into the lead. There was a nice space of free riding before they saw some of the biggest vines ever. There was a small ramp on the left, and a flying launch pad in the center.

"Whoa! Have you ever seen vines that big?" Knuckles asked Rector.

"No, but you will!" They heard a voice behind them.

Sonic came barreling through them both at level 2, sending them spinning. Due to the twisting vines, they fell off, face-first.

"Ow. Now I 'see' what he meant." Rector said.

They got back on their boards and continued the race. Some of the flying types had hit the middle ramp and were on their way to a shortcut. A few racers managed to trick off of turbulence on the vines, and reached higher vines. One of those vines led to a cave that had a 100-ring capsule, and Basil happened to be that lucky racer.

"This is my lucky day. A 100-ring capsule all for me."

Basil picked it up, sending him to level three.

"Now it's time to rock!"

The caves led to drop-offs, as all of the racers noticed. But just as they were about to hit the drop-offs, giant red centipedes came out of nowhere and gave them a ride to the next area. Those who hit the top vines landed in the right cavern exit, which was shorter than the left cavern exit, which was where a racer went if he/she took the lower vines. Most of the flying racers, as well as some of those who hit the top vines due to turbulence, came out of the right exit. Sonic, Armand, Knuckles, and Rector were the ones who came out of the left exit. They were now in the last 4 spots.

"Man, now how are we going to catch up?" Armand asked.

"We'll just have to race hard." Sonic responded.

"And how do we do that?" Knuckles asked.

"I'll tell you how. We're going Sonic Bowling!" Rector told them.

They knew what that meant. Armand, Knuckles, and Rector formed a triangle while they held Sonic above them. Sonic was in a spin dash.

"Ready?" Rector asked.

Tails looked behind him and saw what was about to take place. He was in 11th. He backed down and went to them.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Tails asked.

"We're about to go bowling." Armand replied.

"Well, now that there are 10 racers in front, I think it's possible for a strike." Tails told them.

"I'll agree to that." Knuckles said. "Ready?"

The others nodded. Lucky for them, the racers had lined up in bowling pin formation. The first "pin" would unfortunately be Storm.

"GO!" All 5 racers said at once.

That's when they released Sonic, who sped forward. Howl and Raine looked behind them and saw Sonic being launched.

"Oh no." Raine said.

"What is it, Raine?" Howl asked before seeing it. "Oh crap…"

At that moment, the pins started being knocked down. Howl and Raine timed it so that they would move out of the way when they were about to be hit.

Sonic bowled through each racer, ending with the one in the lead, who happened to be Nightscream.

"Strike!" Sonic said.

Rector noticed Howl and Raine. He thought Sonic had hit them when they had unleashed him.

"Howl, Raine, did that attack hit you?" Rector asked, worried.

"No, it didn't. We timed it so that we would move out of the way at the time Sonic was to hit us. We're okay." Raine told him. Rector breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good. I thought you would have been hit." Rector said.

The race continued. In the area they were in, exiting the cave, on the left was a power barricade. Through that barricade were some giant grapes. On the right side of the main path, there was a quarter-pipe. It led to some flight accelerator rings. Just past it was a left turn, followed by a right turn. At the end of the quarter-pipe, there was a grinding rail. After the right turn was a small left turn, and at the end of the path was a ramp.

No racer could get high enough to hit the spider-web shortcut, so they had to land on the track and make a sharp right turn to head to another ramp. This one led to a bigger spider-web, and it launched them temporarily out of the forest.

"Whoa! We're so high up!" Sonic said.

"Cool!" Rector said.

"Hey, hey, let me down!" Galeon said.

They didn't stay up there long, as they started dropping down…right into the starting block to begin lap two.

"That…was weird." Jet said.

"Uh-huh." Wave agreed.

The second lap began with the downward slope and ramp. As the race went on, the lead changed several times. Everyone was at level 3, and they all were trying to attack everyone else. It was total chaos during the race. There was no telling who would win this one. During the spiral, all of the speed types were hit by level 3 attacks, causing a setback. After the spiral, and before the vines, all of the power types were hit by a mix of level 3 and level 1 attacks. After the vines and the centipede's nest, the flying types were hit by level 1 attacks. Everyone had been reset to level 1.

On the third lap, the same thing happened. Constant lead changes, level 3 attacks, and constant running out of air due to boosting kept happening. This was a race where the winner was a mystery to all.

As the race winded down, Basil had the lead, but he lost it quickly. But that wasn't surprising. The racers hit the big spider web one last time and came down to the starting block. Sonic crossed the finish line first.

"And with that, Sonic wins the Green Cave race!" Gerald announced.

"Sweet!" Sonic said.

Amy, in the stands, looked on with happiness.

"Alright, Sonic!" Amy cheered.

The results were like this: Sonic (+15), Basil (+14), Rector (+13), Jet (+12), Rampage (+11), Knuckles (+10), Armand (+9), Wave (+8), Raine (+7), Galeon (+6), Axel (+5), Nightscream (+4), Tails (+3), Storm (+2), and Howl (+1).

"And with that, the Green Cave race is over. For those in 11th through 15th, you have one more event left. If you don't come back up into the top 10, it's good-bye for you. Well, weather reports say that a small snowstorm is inbound. This will be perfect, as it will open the White Cave track. That's where we'll have the Survival Race, which will be the final race of the first half of the tournament. See you whenever."

Gerald wrapped up the announcements, then left. The heroes decided to head back to Jet's airship, and wait for the snowfall.

**End of Chapter 16.**

Short, as usual, but I'm not complaining. I hope you all liked the race. Now, just wait for the next Survival Race, and if you read Gerald's message in this chapter, you should be in suspense as to who will get eliminated.

Here are the results:

Jet: 66

Rector: 66

Wave: 63

Sonic: 63

Armand: 60

Galeon: 57

Basil: 56

Raine: 55

Rampage: 51

Knuckles: 47

**Howl: 46**

**Axel: 44**

**Storm: 42**

**Tails: 42**

**Nightscream: 40**

Howl, Axel, Storm, Tails, and Nightscream are REALLY in danger. If they don't pick up enough points in the Survival Race, it's over for them. They'll need a LOT of luck if they want to pull through. So, to give them a fair chance, they'll earn double points in the next Survival Race. SO DON'T START COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW THEY WON'T HAVE A CHANCE!!

Read, and you may review if you want.


	17. Surviving in the White Cave

It's time to wrap up the first half of the tournament.

The standings change after each race. That's why it's so unpredictable to see who wins.

Well, it's time to see who gets eliminated.

Disclaimer: Sega owns Sonic and co. OCs belong to their respective owners.

**Chapter 17: Surviving in the White Cave**

It was time for the final Survival Race in the first half of the tournament. The standings looked like this: Jet: 66, Rector 66, Wave 63, Sonic 63, Armand 60, Galeon 57, Basil 56, Raine 55, Rampage 51, Knuckles 47, **Howl (46), Axel (44), Storm (42), Tails (42), and Nightscream (40).** It was intense. Although the distance between first and last was 26 points, the real wonder was who was going to be eliminated after the survival race.

"Man, this is intense." Sonic said.

"The first half of the tournament is about to end, and 5 racers go bye-bye after the Survival Race today. I'm already nervous." Wave added.

"Well, you're not one of the 5 that's in danger of being eliminated." Howl smarted off.

"Howl, calm down. I don't like it either. But we have to try." Tails told him.

"Try! You're kidding. I might as well be out of this tournament anyway. I only have 40 points." Nightscream complained.

"Calm down. You'll have a fair chance of recovering." Gerald said as he came up. "Look, it's about time for the survival race. The new track has been opened up due to the snowfall, and everyone's ready to see who moves on and who doesn't, so get to the starting block or be disqualified right here and now."

Well, that shut them up.

The racers headed to the starting block, where Gerald was ready with the announcements.

"Alright, everyone, welcome to the White Cave race track. The final Survival Race of the first half of the tournament will take place right here. Standard Survival Race rules apply, so I don't have to go over them. Remember, you have to score 5 points in 5 minutes to win. As you all know, Howl, Axel, Storm, Tails, and Nightscream are in danger of being eliminated, so we won't be matching up the standard competitors. Instead, we'll send out one or two of them with a few others, and hope they will rebound. Also, to give them a better chance, whatever amount of points they gain to add to their score, we'll double what they earn. If anybody earns bonus points, those will be doubled as well. For the best chance of moving on, your point total at the end of today needs to be higher than Knuckles's final score for the day. Knuckles will race in the last race. His score is 47 points, so if you don't surpass that score in your race, you're out. If you equal that score, you're out since Knuckles will earn at least one point. If your score matches his after his race, you'll race against him in a special race. Now that I'm done, let's announce the 5 racers that will take part in the first of three races."

The randomizer activated, and all 15 racers were on it. If a racer wasn't racing, their picture would black out. It wasn't long before the first 5 were left lit up.

"And the first 5 racers will be…Armand, Howl, Rampage, Wave, and Tails."

The 5 racers took places at the starting line. Gerald headed to the announcer's booth.

3…2…1…

GO!

Tails, more determined to stay in, got off of the line first, followed by Howl, Rampage, Armand, and Wave, in that order. The course started with a straightaway with a few pillars blocking the path, and the gate was up ahead. Past it was the emerald, and after that was the first ramp. Tails picked up the emerald first, and launched off of the ramp. There was a small outcrop of land above the half-pipe structure, and Tails was headed for it. The others weren't so lucky. They had to take the low road.

The next gate, which would be the first one that they could score in, was ahead. On the left would be a speed rail, but it wasn't a normal race, so there wasn't one. Tails passed through the first gate, earning him his first point. The half-pipe turned into a full one, and there were some rocks inside, so they had to swerve in and out to avoid them. There would have been a flight launcher if this was a standard race, and it would have led a flying type to one of the two vine structures up above. There were a few air capsules, then another gate. Tails passed through it and earned his second point. Then Rampage took the emerald by bumping into Tails.

They were headed into the centipede nest. As they were carried up, they saw that this part was nearly the same as the Green Cave track. As they exited, they went on the curve that led to the inner chamber. On the right, there would have been a speed rail and a flight launch pad. The main track was a straightaway. And there was a gate right in front of them. Rampage passed through it and earned his first point. Then there was a small slalom, then a ramp that led to a sharp turn. A gate was located just before the sharp turn. Rampage passed through it to earn his second point. Would it be enough?

He would have to find out later, as Armand took the emerald from him, launched off of the ramp after the turn, landed in the spider web, which launched him above the forest, and sped down a tunnel to begin lap two. Armand handled his gear with skill, passing through the first gate after the start line, then launching off of the ramp, and then passed through the next gate. Armand was now dominating. He sped through the cave, passed through the next gate before the centipede nest, and earned his third point. After the centipede nest, he sped through the inner cave, earning his fourth point, and then launched off of the ramp up ahead, and scored his final point.

"Armand wins the first Survival Race of three." Gerald announced.

"Alright. I won." Armand said.

The results were like this: Armand (+5), Tails (+8) (4 for coming in second place, and that was doubled.), Rampage (+4), and Howl earned two points (remember, doubled since he was in danger) since he didn't get a goal, and Wave got one point. Their standings were: Armand (65), Tails (50), Rampage (55), Howl (48), and Wave (64).

Howl was kind of nervous, since he was only one point ahead of Knuckles. If Knuckles scored two or more, Howl would be out. Tails wasn't as nervous, but was nervous nonetheless, as if Knuckles gained 4 or 5 points, Tails would be out. Knuckles would race in the last race.

"Well, it looks like Howl and Tails are safe for now. But how long will that last? Well, here's how the next race will go. We will send the other three in danger of being knocked out into the next race, with a couple of others. This will make it fair, as those in danger won't be going up against Knuckles. Remember, if those of you in danger don't surpass 47 points, you lose. Now, I want Nightscream, Axel, and Storm to report to the starting block."

The randomizer started up. Only two more would be lit up since the three in danger were already in. It soon stopped, and Sonic and Jet were up next.

"Sonic and Jet will face off against the three in danger of losing. Report to the starting block."

They did so, and waited for the electric gate to disappear.

3…2…1…

GO!

Axel was the first one out, followed by Nightscream and Storm, then Sonic and Jet. Axel got the emerald first, then launched off of the ramp. He quickly gained a point before having the emerald stolen by Storm. Through the cave, Storm picked up his first point before the centipede nest. As they exited the nest, Storm saw the others catching up. It wasn't long before Nightscream took the emerald for himself. He sped through the gate, and then Storm took the emerald. They jumped off of the ramp, and Storm went through the gate, earning his next point. Nightscream took the emerald back shortly afterward, sped through the tunnel after the spider web, shot through the starting straightaway, sped through the next gate, launched off of the ramp, shot through the gate afterwards, sped through the cave, and sped through the final gate. Sonic and Jet didn't get even one goal.

"Unbelievable! Nightscream wins the race." Gerald announced.

"Yes! I won!" Nightscream said.

The results ended up like this: Nightscream (+10), Storm (+8), Axel (+6), and Sonic and Jet both earned one point. Their standings were: Nightscream (50), Storm (50), Axel (50), Sonic (64), and Jet (67).

Nightscream, Storm, and Axel were all on edge. Knuckles would be competing in the next race, and if he earned 4 points, his total would be 51, and that would take out Howl, Nightscream, Tails, Storm, and Axel, all in one shot.

"Well, with that, I'd say it's time to wrap this up. Everyone's eyes will be on Knuckles, since how many points he scores determines who gets eliminated. It's time for Basil, Galeon, Rector, Raine, and Knuckles to race."

Basil, Galeon, Rector, Raine, and Knuckles headed to the starting line.

3…2…1…

GO!

The race started. Knuckles picked up the emerald first, before the first ramp. He launched off of it, sped through the first gate, and earned his first point before Basil stole the emerald. Basil sped ahead, through the cave, and passed through the next gate, earning him his first point. Knuckles took the emerald back before the centipede nest. After the nest, Knuckles passed through the next gate before Basil took the emerald. Rector, Raine, and Galeon didn't need to try to win, since their scores wouldn't matter at this point. Basil sped through the gate after the ramp, gaining him his second point. He launched off of the ramp, landed in the spider web, shot through the tunnel, and sped across the start line. He passed through the next gate, gaining his third point. He launched off of the ramp, and went through the gate, gaining his fourth point. Speeding through the cave, he went through the final gate and won.

"Basil wins the Survival Race." Gerald announced.

"That wraps this up." Basil said.

The results: Basil (+5), Knuckles (+4), and Galeon, Rector, and Raine each earned one point. Their standings: Basil (61), Knuckles (51), Galeon (58), Rector (67), and Raine (56).

"And with that, the first half of the tournament is over." Gerald announced. "Now, here are those who got eliminated. First, is Howl the Wolf."

Howl just looked on in unhappiness, but he wasn't mad, because he knew he had raced his best.

"Next, is Nightscream the Falcon."

Nightscream, unlike Howl, flipped out, throwing his board on the ground.

"The next one eliminated, is Axel the Boar."

Axel didn't do anything.

"Next, is Storm the Albatross."

"I WANT A RECOUNT!" Storm demanded.

"Sorry, Storm. And last, is Miles "Tails" Prower."

Tails couldn't believe it. Knuckles had eliminated him, Howl, Nightscream, Storm, and Axel in one race. He looked at Knuckles.

"Knuckles, couldn't you have slipped up a bit, and at least let me go into the next half?" Tails asked.

"I'm sorry, Tails, but that would mean throwing myself out." Knuckles replied.

"Oh well. I suppose that's fair. Good luck in the competition." Tails told him.

Wave walked over to Tails.

"Hey, kiddo, don't worry. You raced your best. There will always be next time."

"Thanks, Wave."

Armand then walked over to them.

"I thought you two hated each other."

"We don't hate each other. We're just rivals, and friends."

Gerald then spoke up.

"And with that, the first half of the tournament is over. All scores will be cleared, and the remaining 10 racers will begin the next half in a Survival Battle with a clean slate. The battle will take place in the Snow Valley arena not far from here. The competitor rules will shift, and point earnings as well. Well, I'm out. Good luck in the competition."

Gerald took his leave, and the racers got back on the airship to head for the Snow Valley arena for the next Survival Battle.

**End of Chapter 17.**

Howl, Nightscream, Tails, Axel, and Storm have been eliminated. The second half is about to begin. Here are the results for the first half:

Jet: 67

Rector: 67

Armand: 65

Wave: 64

Sonic: 64

Basil: 61

Galeon: 58

Raine: 56

Rampage: 55

Knuckles: 51

**Axel: Out (50)**

**Nightscream: Out (50)**

**Storm: Out (50)**

**Tails: Out (50)**

**Howl: Out (48)**

Sorry the races weren't that good. But I liked them, and I'm sure you will (so don't complain to me about that). Well, the second half will begin soon. Keep an eye out.

Read and Review.


	18. Snow Valley Survival Battle

Ready for the second half of the tournament?

As you all know (if you read the last chapter), the first 5 racers have been eliminated from the tournament.

Let the second half of the tournament begin.

Disclaimer: Sega owns Sonic and co. OCs belong to their respective owners.

**Chapter 18: Snow Valley Survival Battle**

The first half of the tournament is over, and Nightscream, Axel, Tails, Storm, and Howl had been eliminated. The second half of the tournament would begin with a Survival Battle, then would continue as usual.

The racers were in the break room, waiting for the call to come out.

"Man, I can't believe that Tails got eliminated." Sonic said.

"Axel got eliminated as well." Armand reminded them.

"All teams lost a member. But we have to continue. Besides, this isn't a team tournament." Rector told them.

Just then, Gerald came in.

"Hey, the next event will begin soon. You might want to get out there." Gerald told them.

"We're on it, bro." Sonic replied.

The 10 remaining racers headed out to the arena. Gerald began the announcements.

"Alright everyone, it's time for the next Survival Battle at the Snow Valley Stadium, located just outside the White Cave track. You all know that there will only be 10 racers going for the right to race in the finals. One member of each team has been eliminated. There are currently 4 speed types, 3 power types, and 3 flying types remaining. Now, before I go on with the main announcements, I'd like to introduce a new announcer. Everyone, meet Damien Angels."

Then a golden-colored dog came out of the entrance. He was wearing a white sleeveless hoodie, black jeans, black sneakers (In case anybody cares, they're Reeboks. I usually don't put real-world franchises in my stories. The only exception is the cereal, Frosted Flakes, as that's what causes Armand to go into Berserker's Rage.), a black bandanna, and he was wearing black sunglasses. If you looked behind them, you would see he had black contacts. Like Gerald, he held a microphone, since he was an announcer.

"What's up, everyone. I'm Damien Angels, and yeah, I'm an announcer. If anybody has a problem, prepare to face Nightshade, my dark side." Damien said.

Nobody complained. Damien may have committed some crimes, but he had been caught, and was told he could either perform community service, or go to jail. Damien had chosen community service since going to jail would have "cramped his style". Gerald had learned of this, and since he needed a co-announcer, he chose Damien.

"Yeah, everyone, I had him be my co-announcer since I needed one, and he had to perform community service. It works out, if you think about it." Gerald said. Damien then continued.

"At any rate, have you all enjoyed the tournament so far?" Damien asked. The crowd let out a huge cheer. "Good, because it just gets even more exciting from here. With only 10 competitors left, the tournament will only heat up more. Now, Gerald has filled me in on the remaining racers, so give it up for Sonic, Knuckles, Galeon, Rampage, Armand, Basil, Jet, Wave, Rector, and Raine, the 10 racers who all made their way through the first half."

The crowd went wild as the 10 remaining competitors came out onto the arena, holding their boards.

"And now, it's time for the Survival Battle. You all remember the rules, right? Everyone has 3 hit points. Lose all three and you lose the battle. Collect power ups as often as you can. Red is attack, blue is guard, green is speed, and yellow is air. The Egg is also available. Pick it up, and you're nearly disabled for 20 seconds. Once it hatches, you gain level 3 attack, level 1 guard, double speed, and half air consumption. There's also a power up unique to this arena. If you pick up a cloak, you turn invisible. But just because you can't be seen, doesn't mean you can't be hit. About 1:30 into the battle, Dr. Eggman will come in and drop 2 Egg-Snowmen. At 2:15, they'll start bouncing around. Well, that about covers it. You gain points based on how long you survive. Winner gets 5 points, and last place gets one point. Remember, you only have 5 minutes, so I suggest you hit your opponents early and hard." Damien said, reminding everyone of the Survival Battle rules. Gerald then took over.

"Alright, since there are only 10 left, we'll bring in our randomizer to determine who all will face off in the first of two battles. And the first 5 are…"

The randomizer started up. The photos that appeared shifted in this order: Sonic, Knuckles, Jet, Wave, Galeon, Rampage, Rector, Raine, Armand, and Basil. Soon, the randomizer stopped on the 5 that would start it off.

"…Sonic, Basil, Rector, Rampage, and Jet." Gerald announced.

The 5 racers took 5 different spots. They were around the center pedestal, which contained the air pit.

"Alright racers, before we begin, here are some details about this arena. There's only one air pit, and it's in the center. There are a few sets of air power up capsules around the track, and each one of them refills 30 air. If you're real low, one may change to a 50-air capsule. Remember to watch out for the cloak, and good luck." Damien told them, then he and Gerald headed to the announcer's booth.

Sonic, Basil, Rector, Rampage, and Jet got ready to battle.

3…2…1…

GO!

All 5 racers hopped on their boards at the same time to begin the battle. They immediately started heading for one another. Rector targeted Basil, and Sonic targeted Rampage, leaving Jet out of it.

"Leave me out of the fun, will you? No way!" Jet said.

Jet then kicked it into high gear, attacking Rector, Sonic, Rampage, and then Basil. It was amazing. Jet had attacked all four opponents in a row.

"Jet pulled off 4 consecutive attacks. That's 3 bonus points for him!" Gerald announced.

Jet smiled at what he had done. But it wasn't long before that smile disappeared.

"How about this!?" He heard someone say.

Basil then attacked Jet with his Aqua Sword. Jet took a hit. All racers were left with only two hits left. Now Sonic was after Rector, and Rampage, Jet, and Basil went on a 3-way battle. Sonic dashed towards Rector, who laid a tornado to trip up Sonic, and he took a hit as the tornado caught him. Sonic was in danger of losing. But would he allow that? He didn't think so. He picked up a level 1 attack, and targeted Rector. Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for Rector, Basil, who was targeting Rampage, had passed in between them. He didn't notice Sonic until it was too late.

"Basil, watch out!" Armand called, but it was too late.

Sonic hit Basil with the attack and knocked him out of the battle. Basil couldn't believe it.

"I lost? Damn. No way!" Basil cursed.

Basil left the arena, and he wasn't too happy.

"Well, four racers left. Let's see who gets knocked out next." Damien announced.

The battle continued. 1:30 had passed since the battle had started, so the Egg-Snowmen started dropping in. They landed with a thud. The others knew that the battle had just gotten harder. Sonic couldn't believe that he had hit Basil instead of Rector.

"He just HAD to get in the way. Why did that have to happen?" Sonic asked himself.

"He was going after Rampage. Your attack path just happened to cross his targeting path." Jet said as he came up.

"Shut up, Jet. I didn't ask you." Sonic said.

"Hey, I was just…" Jet began, but he stopped for some reason.

And there was a good reason why. They both were headed straight for an Egg-Snowman. They tried to dodge, but couldn't. They both hit the giant snowman and lost a hit. Jet was left with one, but Sonic, who had lost one to Jet and another to Rector's tornado, lost his last one.

"Aw, I lost. Dang!" Sonic said.

"Ow. That hurt." Jet said.

Sonic left the arena in a less-than-happy mood. He met Basil at the entrance to the arena.

"Next time, don't get in the way of my attack." Sonic said as he passed.

"YOU were the one who didn't look before you attacked. It's your fault." Basil retaliated.

"No, it was yours."

"Shut up, you blue rat!"

"You shut up, you orange water freak!"

They were about to fight when Armand came up.

"BOTH of you shut up!" Armand said. They did. They knew not to ignore Armand.

"Alright." They both said, one after the other.

Outside, the battle raged on. The timer had reached 2:30, so the Egg-Snowmen had already started bouncing around. Jet, Rector, and Rampage stayed in the center, only diverting to the outer edges of the arena when it was clear. Rampage noticed a light-blue power up. He picked it up, and all of a sudden, he disappeared from view. He had picked up the invisibility power up. He went on the offensive. He attacked Jet, knocking him out of the battle. Unfortunately, he didn't see an Egg-Snowman hop up into the air…and it was coming down. He tried to boost out of the way, but it was no use. The giant snowman landed on him. He was shot out, but he had lost a hit point. Rector now had the lead. Rampage had lost the cloak due to the hit, so he was visible again. Rector boosted towards Rampage, who led him right to an Egg-Snowman. Rector hit it, and lost a hit point. It was now a showdown. The timer had reached 3:00, so the snowmen stopped bouncing around for the time being. Rector and Rampage were the only ones left. They charged towards each other in the center. They would meet near the air pit. The crowd was on the edge of their seats.

"GROUND POUND!"

"LEAF WHIRLWIND!"

The two racers attacked with their level 2 moves. The arena quieted down. Rector hoped what had happened at Dual Towers didn't happen here.

"It seems it was too close to call. We'll check a replay to see how it went." Gerald announced.

Gerald, Damien, and a commissioner watched the replay. After they saw, Damien made the announcement.

"And the winner is…Rector!"

"YES! I won!" Rector said as he jumped into the air. The crowd went wild as the result was announced.

"No way! I lost!" Rampage said.

The replay came up as the crowd looked on. Rector had barely dodged Rampage's attack and just connected enough to count as a hit. The results were: Rector (+5), Rampage (+4), Jet (+3(+3 bonus points)), Sonic (+2), and Basil (+1).

It was time for the other 5 competitors to go at it.

"Will Knuckles, Wave, Raine, Armand, and Galeon report to the arena?" Damien asked.

The 5 racers took positions around the center. They waited for the start.

3…2…1…

GO!

The 5 racers hopped on their boards and started to go on the attack. Armand and Galeon went at it, and Wave and Raine targeted each other, leaving Knuckles out of the fun.

"I'm getting into this battle! It's what I do!" Knuckles boasted.

He then went on the attack. Raine was hit, then Wave, and then Galeon. Armand dodged it, however, and countered with his own after Knuckles passed him.

"Nice try, knucklehead!" Armand said.

"Oh yeah? Well, go eat some Frosted Flakes, grr-EAT tiger!" Knuckles said. His eyes went wide and he covered his mouth. He had slipped his tongue, and now he was going to pay for it.

"DON'T EVER SAY THAT TO ME, KNUCKLEHEAD!!" Armand yelled.

Armand then went into Berserker's Rage mode. Wave, Raine, and Galeon steered clear. Galeon had made the same mistake at Dual Towers, and he knew not to do that.

Emily saw what happened. She noticed Shaun, Team Music's flying type, nearby.

"Shaun, did somebody call him a…you know what?" Emily asked.

"I'm afraid somebody did. Who it was, I don't know." Shaun replied.

Then, Emily's flying teammate, Alan the Tiger, came up.

"I heard who it was. Knuckles was the one responsible this time. Emily, it's time to work your magic." Alan said.

"I heard it too." Someone said.

They turned and saw Velocity the Rabbit, Team Velocity's speed type. Apparently, she had heard Knuckles slip.

"Knuckles didn't realize what he said until it had already been said." Velocity said.

Emily turned to where Armand was. He had just taken his anger out on Knuckles, hitting him once, and then after he recovered, hit him again, taking him out. Emily, who didn't like this, hoped Tobias would channel her prayer to Armand like he did last time.

"Armand, please calm down. I beg you." Emily said to herself.

As if he was alive, Tobias had heard Emily, and he channeled her prayer. Armand soon settled down.

"Thanks, Emily." Armand said to himself.

Emily looked at Armand from a distance. She knew he had calmed down. Armand got back on his board and continued the battle. Up in the announcer's booth, Damien was amazed.

"Uh, Gerald, what happened out there?" Damien asked.

"Apparently, I'm told that Knuckles told Armand to go eat some Frosted Flakes, then called him a grr-EAT tiger. You know, what Tony the Tiger says about them. If you say that to him, then you better get ready to take a beating." Gerald told him.

"I'll know not to say that." Damien said.

Back at the battle, nobody was getting a hit off of anybody else. The Egg-Snowmen had started bouncing around. The time elapsed was 2:20, so there was 2:40 left in the battle. Galeon finally did some damage about 10 seconds later, when he attacked Armand. Everyone now had 2 hits left, except for Knuckles, who had been eliminated.

"Darn it." Armand said.

"Well, that's the object. Attack your opponents." Galeon said.

The battle continued. Wave was attacked by Raine, who was attacked by Galeon, who was attacked by Armand, who was attacked by Wave. It was now a 4-way showdown.

Raine charged at Galeon, but missed with her attack. Armand attacked Galeon next, and his attack connected. Galeon was out. Wave then attacked Armand, knocking him out of the battle. It was now between Raine and Wave. They charged at each other. Wave pulled out her wrench, and Raine pulled out a stomach virus powder. They attacked, but Wave ducked the powder and hit Raine. She didn't hit her too hard, because she didn't want to face Rector. Wave had won the battle.

"Wave wins the battle!" Gerald announced.

"Yes! That's what I bring to the competition!" Wave boasted. And that was true.

The battle had ended. The results were: Wave (+5), Raine (+4), Armand (+3), Galeon (+2), and Knuckles (+1).

"Well, that's it. Meet us at the Desert Coliseum for the Dark Desert Survival Race. There have been predictions of a solar eclipse, so it will be perfect. See you all there." Damien said.

Gerald and Damien took their leave. The racers boarded Jet's airship to head to the coliseum.

**End of Chapter 18.**

That wraps up the Snow Valley Survival Battle. I hope you all enjoyed the races. Here are the results:

Jet: 6

Wave: 5

Rector: 5

Raine: 4

Rampage: 4

Armand: 3

Galeon: 2

Sonic: 2

Basil: 1

Knuckles: 1

Well, the second half of the tournament is underway.

Read, and you may review if you want.


	19. Dark Desert: Racing in the Eclipse

Alright, it's time for the tournament to continue. The Wipeout story I plan on doing will not be canceled. I'll try to get the first chapter up. It will tell you all who's participating, as well as the challenges I have planned.

Last time, Rector beat out Rampage for a win, and Wave won her battle. But Jet has the lead thanks to gaining bonus points for 4 attacks in a row. But those standings won't last. And you all know that (if you've been reading).

Let's continue.

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners. Sega owns Sonic and co.

**Chapter 19: Dark Desert: Racing in the Eclipse.**

After the last Survival Battle, the standings looked like this: Jet (6), Rector (5), Wave (5), Raine (4), Rampage (4), Armand (3), Galeon (2), Sonic (2), Basil (1), and Knuckles (1). It was time for the first Survival Race in the second half of the tournament.

"What's up, everyone? It's time for the Survival Race. As you all may know, in a few minutes, the moon will block out the sun, and it will turn dark. An eclipse will be perfect for this. Now, how does a Survival Race go? I've missed the last survival races." Damien said. Gerald rolled his eyes.

"Here's the quick version. They get a Chaos Emerald, pass through a gate, and try to score 5 points in 5 minutes. Points are awarded by position at the end. 1st place gets 5 points, a tie results in the same number of points, and if they don't get a goal, they score 1 point for their total. You'll figure out the rest as the race goes along." Gerald said.

"Thanks, G-man. Well, let's see who will participate in the first race." Damien said.

The randomizer came up and started shuffling the racers. It wasn't long before the first 5 pictures appeared.

"And it looks like Basil, Rector, Wave, Sonic, and Rampage will go at it in the first Survival Race." Gerald announced.

The 5 racers took their positions at the starting line. Gerald and Damien headed up to the announcer's booth. The countdown began.

3…2…1…

GO!

The race began. The sun had been blocked out by the moon, so it was dark. As the racers left the start, Basil, who was first, raced up the steps, where the emerald was located. Basil picked it up and jumped off of the ramp. The others followed. Down below, there was a large expanse of desert land. It was hard to believe that this would be the race course.

"Man, what a rip-off!" Sonic complained.

"This is so going to be boring." Wave said.

But it was not to be. As they were coming down, a large fissure appeared, opening the way to a sub-underground area.

"Holy…" Basil began.

"What is this?" Rector asked.

They landed on a tiled floor. It was obvious that Gerald and Damien knew of this, because there was a gate up ahead. They launched off of the first ramp, though there were a couple of paths down the side. Those paths were slow, however. Just before the second ramp, there was a gate. Basil passed through it, gaining his first point, before launching down to the third ramp. After that, there was a small cave that led to two hairpin turns. One of the gates was in the area. Basil passed through it and was on his way to an actual win. He couldn't believe it.

"If I keep this up, I may just win this one." Basil thought.

But Sonic came up and bumped into him as they were coming out of the second hairpin turn. As they moved on, they could see two walls up ahead. If it were a normal race, there would have been flight accelerator rings on the yellow path, obstacles on the red path, and a grind rail on the blue path, which was the main path. Everyone followed the main path. There was a gate just before the ramp. Sonic got his first point, then hit the ramp. As he was flying through the air, he saw a bunch of ancient writing and devices. Tails would have a field day in this place. But he had no time. He landed, headed for the second ramp, and launched off of it. He saw a third ramp. He launched off of it, landed, and headed for a warp chamber. He saw a gate before the entrance. He sped through it, and headed into the warp chamber. Here he found himself in a green orb, speeding around the chamber. He looked around and saw the other racers in green orbs as well. It wasn't long before Sonic was shot out, along with the others. They landed in Desert City, which was located near the city. Some of the onlookers took up positions along the buildings to watch the races. If this were a normal race, there would have been a grind rail on the right, and flight accelerator rings on the left. Shortly after the slight right turn, there was another gate. Sonic almost passed through it, but Basil stole the emerald, so he got the point instead. Basil and Sonic were schooling their opponents. Basil had the lead with 3 goals. Sonic had 2, and the others had none. It would definitely be between them.

"You might as well give up. You can't beat me." Sonic taunted.

"Yeah right. Like my best friend Armand, I never give up." Basil retaliated.

Basil and Sonic rounded the sharp corner and shot towards the coliseum. They had passed a power type shortcut, which would have been open in a normal race. But then Rampage came out of nowhere and stole the emerald. How he had caught up, nobody knew. Basil looked back and saw that the barricade had been broken. Rampage had cheated.

"He can't do that!" Basil complained. There were no cameras in the area, so the only proof was if anybody saw it besides Basil. A few others had seen it, but they didn't reveal their identities.

Rampage stormed through the coliseum, earning his first point, and launched off of the ramp. He landed in the area below, and started to dominate. He launched off of the first ramp in the series of three, sped through the gate before the second one, launched off of it, then the third one, and then sped through the next gate. Rampage now had 3 points. He sped through the hairpin turns, sped through the small cave leading to the ancient room, passed through the gate before the ramp, made his way to the warp chamber, and secured his final point in the race. Everyone headed back to the coliseum.

"I don't believe it. Rampage wins." Gerald announced.

Everyone started cheering. Well, everyone except Basil.

"THIS WIN DOESN'T COUNT!!" Basil yelled, catching everyone's attention. "Rampage cheated by going through a shortcut that was blocked off. Therefore, he should be disqualified from this race, and his score should be reset!"

"Oh yeah? Well, can you prove it?" Rampage asked.

"He can't. But we can." Someone said from the side.

They all turned and saw Charlie the Bear, Cloud the Bluebird, and Vash the Wolf. They were watching the race from one of the buildings and managed to catch Rampage going through the illegal shortcut.

"We were watching from atop a building in the city. We saw Rampage bust the barricade and speed through." Cloud said.

Gerald and Damien were amazed by this. Galeon didn't look too happy with what his teammate had done. Damien had received a quick call from one of the track inspectors, and it confirmed the illegal action.

"I don't believe it. One of the track inspectors has confirmed that the barricade has been broken. Rampage, you're score will be reset to 0 points, and you will not be credited with the win. Plus, you will not get any points for this race. With that, Basil is credited with the win." Damien announced.

Galeon went to Rampage and punched him.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Galeon asked.

"I just wanted to win." Rampage said.

"I know, but we are not cheaters. We don't pull stuff like that to win. Never…do…that…again." Galeon told him.

"Alright." Rampage responded.

The results were: Basil (+5), Sonic (+4), Rector and Wave got 1 point each as consolation, and Rampage got no points for his disqualification. Their standings were: Basil (6), Sonic (6), Rector (6), Wave (6), and Rampage's score was cleared due to cheating.

"Let's continue with the survival races. Jet, Armand, Knuckles, Raine, and Galeon, it's time for your race." Damien said.

The 5 racers took spots at the start line.

3…2…1…

GO!

The race began. Jet took the lead, and grabbed the emerald at the top of the stairs. After launching off of the ramp, with the others in pursuit, Jet saw the area previously hidden by the fissure. It was still accessible, and he saw the first gate sitting right where it was in the last race: just before the second ramp in the 3-ramp series. He jumped off of the first ramp, passed through the gate before the second ramp to gain his first point, hit that ramp, and launched off of the third one before having the emerald stolen by Raine. She headed through the hairpin turns, passed through the gate to get a point for herself, then headed towards the ancient room. She passed through the gate just before the ramp, and after she landed, Armand took the emerald from her. He kept the emerald all the way to the warp chamber, so he got a point by passing through the gate before it. They sped through it, with Armand getting out first, and landed in the city. Armand passed through the next gate to gain a second point. Then Knuckles stole the emerald for himself.

"It's my turn to score some points in this thing." Knuckles said.

And how right he was. He sped through the city and entered the coliseum. He gained his first point by passing the gate right in front of the start/finish line, then he jumped the ramp to land in the sub-underground area. He sped his way down the ramps to gain a second point from the second ramp, then landed in the lower area. He was being careful about his air, and not getting overconfident. He passed through the third gate before the hairpin turns, and headed towards the ancient room. But that was where Raine took back the emerald.

"Sorry, Knuckles." Raine apologized as she stole the emerald.

Raine sped into the ancient room, and launched off of the first ramp, sped through the next gate for her third point, launched off of the second and third ramps, and headed to the warp chamber. But before scoring her fourth point, Galeon came up and took the emerald. He scored his first point, then headed into the warp chamber. He launched out of it, and when he landed, he sped towards the next gate. He passed through it to earn his second point, sped through the city, passed through the entrance, gained a third point, and launched off of the ramp. As he landed, he saw the sun start to emerge. This was trouble. If the sun came out fully, the area would close up, and they would be trapped. They had to finish this and get out. Galeon called the other four to him.

"Listen. We've got trouble. The sun's coming out. If it emerges fully, this area will close, and we'll be trapped." Galeon told them.

"What do we do?" Armand asked.

"The important thing is getting out of here. Just let me win so we can end the race, and let's focus on getting out of here." Galeon said.

"Deal. Let's move!" Knuckles said.

With that, Galeon kept the lead. He hit the 3-ramp series, passed through the gate for a fourth point, sped to the hairpin turns, and ended it by getting his final point.

"Galeon wins the Survival Race!" Gerald announced. The results were: Galeon(+5), Raine (+4), Knuckles (+4), Armand (+3), and Jet (+2). Their standings were: Galeon (7), Raine (8), Knuckles (5), Armand (6), and Jet (8).

"Wait a minute. Look!" Damien said. Everyone looked up and saw the sun start to emerge. "Damn it! The sun's coming out! The racers better get out of there!" Damien said in a panic.

Down in the sub-underground area, the racers had just reached the ancient room. If the sun emerged fully, the warp chamber would close down, leaving them trapped. They had to escape, and quickly. They saw the warp chamber door start to close.

"The door's closing!" Raine said.

"Let's get through it!" Galeon yelled.

Galeon went in first, followed by Knuckles, Jet, and then Raine. As she went into the chamber, she saw Armand lagging behind. Something was wrong with his board, and he lost a lot of speed.

"Armand, hurry!" Raine yelled.

Armand tried to get through, but the door had closed too far. He slammed into the door and was knocked out. His board, the Crimson Laser, managed to get through. Raine grabbed it as it came by her.

"NO! ARMAND!" Raine yelled, but it was no use. Armand had been trapped. And since his communicator wouldn't work due to underground interference, there would be no way to know if he was okay.

Raine shot out of the warp chamber. If the area happened to close, anyone in the warp chamber would be shot out as usual. She caught up with the others.

"Raine, where's Armand?" Jet asked. Raine just shook her head.

"No. It can't be." Galeon said.

"We have to tell the others." Knuckles told them.

They reentered the coliseum. Gerald was waiting.

"Glad to see you all made it out." Gerald said. Then he noticed someone was missing. "Wait. Where's Armand?"

Raine pulled out Armand's board. As soon as Emily saw it, she ran down to where they were.

"Where's Armand?" Emily asked.

"He tried to escape, but the door had closed too far. His board managed to get by, but he couldn't." Raine told her, as well as everyone. Nobody could believe it. Emily, who was hit the hardest by this news, started to cry. She managed to keep herself from roaring out.

"No. He can't be trapped. He just can't be." Emily said while in tears.

Sonic just looked on in disbelief. Basil just dropped to his knees, speechless. Raine just looked out at where Armand got trapped, wondering if she could have done something to help him. Galeon couldn't say a word. The other racers just stayed quiet and looked out at where the incident happened.

"Attention everyone. This race may have ended, but a dark event has happened. Armand did not manage to escape the underground ancient area in time." Gerald announced. There was a huge gasp from the crowd. They couldn't believe it.

"With Armand out of the tournament, I'm afraid we have to cancel it." Damien said.

"NO! We're not canceling this tournament! We're getting Armand out!" Basil said.

"What are you talking about? We can't get him out of there. There won't be another solar eclipse for another 5 years." Rampage said.

"That's where we come in. We're going to create our own solar eclipse."

**End of Chapter 19.**

Armand has been trapped, but Basil has a plan. But how are they going to create their own solar eclipse? And what went wrong with Armand's board? Find out in the next chapter. The next chapter will not hold a race. Instead, that chapter will feature a break in the tournament.

As for the tournament standings, here you go:

Jet: 8

Raine: 8

Galeon: 7

Rector: 6

Wave: 6

Armand: 6

Sonic: 6

Basil: 6

Knuckles: 5

Rampage: 0

Jet and Raine are tied for the lead. But will it last?

Read and Review.


	20. Rescuing Armand

If you all have been reading (and I know you have), then you all know that in the last chapter, Armand got trapped in the ancient temple below the desert when the solar eclipse ended.

Basil has a plan to get him out, but what does he have in mind?

You'll have to read to find out.

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners. Sega owns Sonic and co.

**Chapter 20: Rescuing Armand**

It had been a few minutes since everyone had received the bad news. In the middle of the last Survival Race, the solar eclipse ended. Galeon, Armand, Raine, Knuckles, and Jet had agreed to let Galeon win, so they could end the race and get out of there. Galeon, Knuckles, Jet, and Raine managed to escape, but before Armand could get into the warp chamber, the door closed and Armand was knocked out. His board, the Crimson Laser, managed to get through, and Raine grabbed it before she was shot out of the warp chamber. Now they were at the start line, wondering what they could do.

"With Armand out of the tournament, I'm afraid we have to cancel it." Damien said.

"NO! We're not canceling this tournament! We're getting Armand out!" Basil said.

"What are you talking about? We can't get him out of there. There won't be another solar eclipse for another 5 years." Rampage said.

"That's where we come in. We're going to create our own solar eclipse."

Everyone looked at Basil as if he were crazy.

"Basil, are you out of your mind? How are we going to create our own solar eclipse? We don't have anything large enough to block out the sun." Rector complained.

"We don't, but Eggman does."

**Eggman's underground base, some time later…**

Eggman was overlooking some of his robots doing their weekly cleaning of the Egg-Battle Cruiser. Sonic and his friends had disabled it when Metal Sonic had manipulated Eggman and the heroes so he could initiate his own plan for robotic world domination. By this time, it had been repaired, and Eggman kept it in this base for when he would need it again. Little did he know, the battle cruiser would fly sooner than he would have liked.

Outside the entrance, Basil and Emily were waiting for the signal to infiltrate. They had some help getting underground from Rector, Domino (the fox from Team Triple Threat), and Hurricane. On the surface, the others were ready to create the distraction.

"Ready, everyone?" Jet asked.

"Remember, all we have to do is lure the robots out here so Basil and Emily can get inside without any real trouble. Yeah, we're ready." Domino said. By this time Rector, Domino, and Hurricane had gotten out.

"Then let's get it on!" Jet called out. He then tripped the alarm on purpose.

In the base, Eggman heard the alarm being tripped.

"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! All robots report to surface for defense!" The computerized voiceover said.

"What!? Who's causing a racket, and why?" Eggman questioned. "No matter. All robots, defend the base!"

The robots filed out to protect the base. Outside the entrance, Basil and Emily saw the robots come out and head toward the surface. It wasn't long before the last one had passed them.

"Now's our chance, Emily!" Basil said.

"Let's go." Emily replied.

Basil and Emily then entered the base. They saw the first room, and it was massive. There was a robot repair station, weapon shelves, spare robot parts, and prototype metal robots. There was a blue robot that looked like Sonic inspecting the prototypes. It was none other than Metal Sonic. He turned around and saw the fox and cheetah that had just entered.

"Halt! Who are you to just barge in here?" Metal Sonic asked.

"That's none of your business. Who are you?" Basil asked.

"I'm Metal Sonic, one of Dr. Eggman's greatest robots ever created. And you two are about to meet a friend of mine. I'd like you to meet Mr. METAL SURGE!"

With that, Metal charged up his signature move. He gathered electric energy around his claws and let loose a blast of energy. Basil and Emily barely dodged it, but Metal was counting on that. He rushed toward Emily, but she ducked his attack. Metal was unable to stop himself and crashed into the wall hard, shutting him down.

"Well, that was too easy." Basil said.

"Let's move on." Emily suggested.

They found an elevator that led up to the second floor. The elevators only went up or down by one level, and in each level during an alert there was a robot of some kind waiting. Once they had reached the second level, they found a robotic doll that looked like Tails.

"You shall not pass. I will stop you." The robotic doll said in an emotionless voice.

"And who are you to stop us?" Emily asked.

"I am the Tails Doll, created by Metal Sonic himself. I am to destroy any intruders that enter this area." Tails Doll said.

Tails Doll then attacked Basil, who just charged up a water cannon blast and shot the robot doll with it. The Tails Doll shook it off as if it were nothing.

"What!? That water blast should have short-circuited you."

"I am not a robot. I am a doll. I am immune to robot weaknesses." The Tails Doll said.

"How about a standard weakness?" Basil said as he formed his Aqua Blade. He slashed Tails Doll with it, and it started to break apart.

"Impossible. Does not compute. Functions ceasing. Backup systems down. Repair mode offline…"

The Tails Doll then fell apart completely.

"That was still too easy." Emily said.

"Well, let's move on. Maybe we can find out where Eggman is." Basil told her.

They headed to the elevator. While they were taking it up, Basil noticed Emily had a worried expression.

"Emily, don't worry. We'll get Armand out. I promise. Remember, he's my best friend." Basil said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "One way or another, we'll get him out."

"I know. It's just that…with no way to contact him, I don't know if he's okay." Emily replied.

"Come on. Let's continue. The sooner we get what we came here for, the sooner we can break Armand out."

They reached the next floor. Inside they found…

"Eggman!" Basil and Emily said at the same time.

"Who's there? Well, if it isn't Basil and Emily. What brings you here?" Eggman asked. Basil grabbed him by the jacket.

"Shut up, Eggman. Give us the Egg-Battle Cruiser now!" Basil demanded.

"Why should I do that?" Eggman asked.

"Armand's trapped in a temple, and the only thing that can cause a solar eclipse big enough to open the desert is that battle cruiser!"

"Well, you didn't have to come barging in like that. You should have just asked."

"What? So the Metal Sonic and Tails Doll we fought were…"

"Exactly. They weren't the real ones. The real ones aren't that dumb. Plus, they would have gotten back up and fought until they were dead, so to speak."

Eggman freed himself from Basil's grasp. He then activated the controls to release the Egg-Battle Cruiser.

"Launch the Egg-Battle Cruiser now! Target is the Desert City Coliseum." Eggman announced. He then opened the way for Basil and Emily to board.

"Just go through here, and you can enter the cruiser."

"Right. Whatever. Let's go, Emily."

Basil and Emily quickly went through the doorway and boarded the cruiser. Outside, the heroes were fending off the robots until they saw the Egg-Battle Cruiser appear.

"We're done here. Let's move!" Jet called.

The heroes quickly withdrew, leaving the robots to return to their duties inside the base. It wasn't long before they reached the coliseum. The cruiser blocked the sun out, and since it was dark, the way to the ancient ruins opened up.

"EMILY, NOW!" Basil called.

Emily took her board, the Blue Striker, and sped down to the ruins. She carried Armand's board, the Crimson Laser, down with her. Down near the warp chamber, Armand had been awake for a long while, waiting for the gate to open up.

"I hope I get out of here soon. Emily is probably worried about me." Armand said to himself. He was as worried about Emily as much as Emily was worried about him.

Emily had just learned that the gate to the warp chamber would not open this time. She also learned that the ship hadn't been refueled. The ship would only block the sun for a few minutes. She had just reached the corridor with the ancient text. Up ahead, she saw Armand.

"ARMAND!" Emily called.

Armand looked behind him and saw Emily almost at his position.

"Emily!" Armand said, surprised.

Emily hopped off of her board. She ran towards Armand, who had his arms open. Emily just fell into them.

"Armand, I'm so glad you're okay." Emily said, nearly in tears.

"Emily, I know you were worried about me. How did you manage to get down here?" Armand asked.

"We took Eggman's Egg-Battle Cruiser and used it to block the sun. That caused the solar eclipse and opened this area up."

"Then why didn't the warp chamber open?"

"I just learned that it doesn't open for one week. We can't go out that way."

"Well then, I say we get out of here. But first…"

Armand pulled Emily to him and kissed her.

"Thank you for coming to help me." Armand said after they had parted.

An earthquake shook the whole room.

"What's happening, Basil?" Emily asked through a communicator she had gotten from him.

"The Egg-Battle Cruiser's out of fuel. We had to get it back to the base. You two had better get out of there." Basil said.

The two didn't waste any time. They hopped on their boards and started to backtrack their way out. Once they had reached the opening, it was almost closed. Emily started to lose hope.

"Armand, it's over for us!" Emily said.

"Emily, if there's one thing I learned from my father, it's to never give up, no matter how hopeless things may be. Just watch this!"

Armand grabbed Emily and their boards, then shot his grapple hook and locked it onto the edge of the fissure, which was almost completely shut. It was pitch black.

"Armand, I can't see!" Emily said.

At the track, the others watched as the fissure closed. They couldn't believe it. Emily had failed to save Armand.

"No. Emily. She failed. It's over." Sonic said.

"I can't believe it. She didn't make it." Raine sadly said.

Basil looked like he was about to give up when he noticed something.

"Wait a minute everyone. Look!"

Everyone looked at the fissure to see something pierce the ground. It created a small hole big enough for someone to fit in it. They then saw two figures come out of it. One was holding the other. It was Armand, and he was holding Emily as they came out.

"IT'S ARMAND!!" Basil called out.

Everyone couldn't believe it. Emily had succeeded after all. They landed just outside the coliseum, then went through one of the entrances to enter it. As they entered, the crowd started cheering. Armand and Emily had made it.

The other racers ran up to them.

"I can't believe you made it, Armand." Basil said.

"I couldn't have done it without Emily." Armand replied, making Emily blush a little.

"Aw, it was nothing." Emily said.

Gerald turned to the crowd.

"Attention, everyone. Armand has survived. This tournament will continue as planned!" Gerald announced. Everyone cheered at that. "Well, tomorrow we return to Babylon Garden for the next few races. See you all there."

Gerald and Damien packed up and left. The racers boarded Jet's airship to head to Babylon Garden.

**End of Chapter 20.**

Well, thanks to Emily, Armand managed to escape. Everyone is now happy, but the tournament must continue.

I realize that a lot of the chapter was focused on Armand, Basil, and Emily, but that was the main point of this chapter. SO DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT FLAMING ME ON THIS!!

Well, read and review.


	21. Babylonian Heights

It's time for the next race.

In the last chapter, the tournament was temporarily halted due to Armand getting trapped in the ancient underground temple. Armand managed to escape thanks to Basil, who came up with a plan, and Emily, who actually saved Armand.

With Armand back in, the tournament can continue. And it's at one of my favorite tracks, Babylon Garden.

**Chapter 21: Babylonian Heights.**

After a close escape by Armand and Emily, the tournament could continue. The standings from the Dark Desert track looked like this: Jet (8), Raine (8), Galeon (7), Rector (6), Wave (6), Armand (6), Sonic (6), Basil (6), Knuckles (5), and Rampage (0).

The remaining racers were at Babylon Garden, the site of the next race. They were high up in the sky, and gray clouds surrounded the whole area. This was a setup for an intense 10-racer free for all race.

"Welcome back to not-so-scenic Babylon Garden. As you all remember, we had a Survival Battle here near the beginning of the main tournament. Now we're here for a race. The weather is intense, so let's get to it." Gerald announced.

"You all know the rules, so we don't need to go over them. Gerald told me how a race works while we were on our way here, so I don't need a reminder. Well, are you all getting excited!?" Damien asked the crowd. They gave a long, loud cheer as a response. "I thought so. Now, let's allow the racers to take a position at the starting track, and let's get it on!"

Damien and Gerald headed to the announcer's booth, and the 10 racers took their places at the starting line. In front of the starting line was something of a Babylonian dome. If a power type got the early lead, they could smash through it, no problem. Otherwise, any other type would be slowed down.

5…4…3…2…1…

GO!

The race began. Knuckles got off the line first, and smashed through the miniature dome, breaking it into bits. There would be no repairing that thing. As the racers began, there was a steep downward slope that led to a ramp. This would lead very high into the air, and it would be a long drop down to the first main part of the track. The racers launched off of the ramp, and went high into the air, performing various tricks to get a trick grade, as well as bonus air, not that they needed it. The racers started going downward to the track, and it was a long drop. Luckily, the racers managed to stay on their boards, and managed to keep their lunches they ate earlier (estimated time was about 1:30 p.m.) in their stomachs.

Knuckles may have gotten into the air first, but it was Sonic who landed first. Up ahead, they could see a sharp turn. As if that wasn't enough, there was no guardrail to save them from a fall. But for speeders, there was a grinding rail above the ramp. Armand and Galeon took it, but Sonic and Jet, who knew the track better than anybody, took the tight turn. Those who couldn't take the speed rail managed to catch the turbulence left by Sonic, who was ahead of Jet. Sonic looked ahead of him only to see that Armand and Galeon had the lead.

"No way! How did they get ahead?" Sonic asked himself. Rector, who had just gotten ahead of Jet in the turbulence trail, heard him.

"They took the speed rail above the ramp that you decided to ignore." Rector pointed out.

"Did I ask you, Rector?" Sonic asked.

"No. But that doesn't mean I can't tell you anyway." Rector said.

They didn't notice the upcoming 3-way split, and they took the far right path, which was a power type area. Sonic, who was ahead of Rector, slammed into the barricade blocking the power shortcut, and was stopped. Armand, Jet, and Galeon took the far left, which was a loop, and Wave, Raine, and Basil took the middle path, which had some flight accelerator rings. Rector, who was a power type, smashed through the barricade, and by the time Sonic recovered, Rampage and Knuckles were ahead of him. Sonic was now in last.

"Damn it. How am I going to catch up now?" Sonic asked himself.

Up ahead, Armand had taken the lead. They went through a right turn, and then a left turn, and then they saw a stretch of pathway. But a Babylonian fighter jet was closing in on that stretch, and flew over it, firing a couple of bombs to destroy the pathway.

"_Emergency alert! Emergency alert! Prepare to repel intruders!"_ A voice echoed throughout Babylon Garden. The fighter that destroyed the pathway flew up into a funnel of swirling clouds.

"How are we supposed to get past this?" Armand yelled back.

"If I'm correct, that fighter left a large turbulence trail. We follow that out of this trap." Jet replied.

The racers hit the large turbulence. Due to it being the first lap, and the fact that the turbulence was just created, there were no tricking zones available. All the racers could do was ride the turbulence, and hope there was something waiting to save them. At the top of the turbulence (remember that they were going upward), they shot out of the clouds, above the sky.

"Where's the track!?" Rector yelled.

"There is no track. Babylonian jets should be coming our way now!" Sonic called out. He had caught up to the others while in the turbulence.

Down below, they saw 10 combat fighters flying by. They each caught one, and now it was a matter of which fighter was the fastest. It turns out that Sonic's fighter was the fastest, so he landed first to take the lead.

"Not bad!" Sonic said.

But that didn't last long. Galeon took the lead from him. He saw a grind rail over the guard rail. He jumped on it, with Armand and Jet following behind. Sonic and Raine rode the turbulence, hit a trick area in it, and busted through the track above to land on it. Not only did this lead to a max-air power up, but it also had a turn that wasn't as sharp as the one below. The power characters took the bottom path, which had a sharper turn than the top track above them, but they handled it easily. Everyone was nearly tied for a 10-way lead. As they passed a ramp, there were some flight accelerator rings. Up ahead, a combat fighter blasted a piece of track, revealing a ramp that led to a 100-ring capsule. Rector managed to notice, and jumped off of the ramp and got it, sending him to level 3 instantly.

"Boo-yah! Now it's time to really rock it." Rector said.

With that, Rector started a series of level 3 attacks, starting with Rampage, followed by Knuckles, Basil, Jet, Armand, Galeon, and finally Sonic. Because of his chivalry, he couldn't hit Raine and Wave, so he just swerved close to them, which counted as an attack. It was allowed for Rector only. And this was all within 9 seconds. Damien noticed this.

"That was amazing. Rector pulled 9 attacks in 9 seconds." Damien announced.

"That's going to be 5 bonus points for Rector's score." Gerald said.

Near the curve, the racers saw that there were no guard rails. They had to be careful here. One mistake, and they would fall to Babylon Garden below. Rector, who was in the lead, was sliding through the turn, creating a turbulence trail while he was at it. The others followed it, and seeing as how there were no guard rails, this was the best course of action. After the sharp turn, there was a ramp that led to one of two parts of the track. Go high enough, and you would land on a long straightaway that led to a ramp way up ahead. Land on the bottom track, and you would land on a long straightaway that had a power barricade after the finish line. The side paths had no advantage.

Rector, Knuckles, Sonic, Armand, and Wave landed on the bottom track, while Raine, Basil, Galeon, Rampage, and Jet hit the top path. The start/finish line was in sight. If it were the final lap, this would be a suspenseful finish. But it was only the first lap, so they would have to wait. Sonic quickly sped ahead of Rector to take the lead.

"Alright, I'm in the lead." Sonic said.

"Not for long!" Jet said up above him.

Jet sped ahead of Sonic on the top track. The 5 on the top track were headed towards the ramp. The 5 on the bottom were headed towards the 3-way split. Rector and Knuckles went through the power type shortcut, Sonic and Armand went through the right path, and Wave took the left path. Up ahead, Sonic, Armand, and Wave saw the racers that were on the top path land in front of them. They caught up and sped through the sharp turn, only to see Knuckles and Rector go through the loop. They had decided not to take the power type shortcut. Everyone except Rampage took the loop. Rampage took the power type shortcut, and was soon in the lead.

"Now I'm in the lead. And I plan on keeping it that way."

But that plan wouldn't go as planned. Rampage dropped a tornado, but the other 9 racers went around it, putting Rampage in last place, which was 10th.

"Damn it. I'm back in last again." Rampage cursed.

But as luck would have it, he got a 30-ring capsule, bringing him to level 3. He was already at level 2. He then went on a rampage (would you look at that!). He attacked Armand, Knuckles, Wave, and Sonic to put himself in 6th place. He would gain 5 bonus points as a result. He couldn't attack the others because there was the large turbulence trail coming up. The 5 racers in front were already on it, so he joined them. Since it was the second lap, there were trick areas. Rampage hit as many as possible, and managed to get to fourth before launching into the air. Raine had the lead, and one of the combat fighters was carrying her to the next section of the track. Rector was right behind her, so he could see her. Raine came up to the next track. It was time to let go. She released her grip…

But she couldn't let go of the fighter. She looked up and saw that something was keeping her latched on. She tried to break free, but couldn't.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!!" Raine yelled. Rector and Basil noticed this.

"Raine!" Rector yelled.

"Something's wrong!" Basil exclaimed.

The combat fighter was turning away from the track. It was headed to the edge of Babylon Garden. The claw then activated, somehow grabbed a rope, and somehow started tying Raine's wings together. Galeon, who was near Basil, saw what was going on. He had already passed Rampage.

"No way! That thing's planning on dropping Raine right off of Babylon Garden!" Galeon realized.

"What!? NO!" Rector said. The other racers had stopped, and the crowd, Gerald, and Damien had seen this as well. Everyone tried to think of a way to avert this.

But it was no use. There was no way anyone could save Raine. It seemed as if all hope was lost. The combat fighter carried Raine to the edge. The claw then grabbed Raine and threw her out into the air. As if it wasn't bad enough, Raine's gear, the Graceful Wing, had somehow shut down. It looked like the end of Raine.

"No. I can't believe this is how it will end." Raine said sadly.

"Not if I can help it!" Someone in the distance said.

All of a sudden, a black and yellow bee wearing a red jacket, black shoes, and a red helmet flew towards Raine. It was Charmy Bee. Apparently he had seen the whole thing, and was on his way to help. He caught Raine in his arms, untied the rope binding her wings, and helped her get back to the track. He also carried Raine's gear with him. It wasn't long before they got back to the track.

"Charmy, thank you." Raine said.

"Aw, it was no problem, Raine." Charmy replied.

Raine then gave Charmy a kiss, which caused Charmy to fall to the ground. It was no secret that they were in love. It was also no secret that Rector didn't approve of the relationship very well. Speaking of Rector, he was on his way to where Charmy and Raine were. The other racers followed.

"Raine, are you okay?" Rector asked as he hugged Raine.

"Yes, thanks to Charmy." Raine replied.

"That's good. Charmy, thank you for saving her." Rector told Charmy.

"Like I said, it was nothing." Charmy replied.

Over at the announcer's booth, Damien and Gerald watched what was happening.

"Gerald, do Rector and Raine have a relationship, if you know what I mean?" Damien asked. Gerald punched him.

"You moron. Raine is like a sister to Rector. It's Charmy that Raine is in love with." Gerald said.

"Jeez, sorry." Damien said, kind of in a sarcastic tone.

Gerald then decided that it was time to move on.

"Attention everyone. Due to the recent incident, we have decided that the current results will be the finishing results. Whatever position you were in before the incident happened, is the position that you finish in. With that, Raine wins since she was in the lead." Gerald announced.

With that, Raine won the race. The results for this race were: Raine (+10), Rector (+9), Basil (+8), Galeon (+7), Rampage (+6(+5 bonus points)), Armand (+5), Sonic (+4), Wave (+3), Knuckles (+2), and Jet (+1).

"Well, that wraps up this race. This weather is supposed to clear up in a little while, and that's when the Sky Road track will open for the Survival Race. See you all then." Damien announced.

Gerald and Damien took their leave (kind of), and the racers headed to the airship to rest up.

**End of Chapter 21**

Raine almost lost her life, but was rescued by Charmy. Was the incident just a combat fighter program malfunction, or is someone responsible for it? You'll just have to keep an eye on the story to find out.

The standings are as follows:

Raine: 18

Rector: 15

Galeon: 14

Basil: 14

Armand: 11

Rampage: 11

Sonic: 10

Jet: 9

Wave: 9

Knuckles: 7

The standings have changed dramatically. Who will emerge on top, and who will be eliminated? Well, you'll just have to wait on that.

Read, and you may review if you want.


	22. High in the Sky Road

It's time for the next Survival Race.

This race takes place at Sky Road. Who will win? Read on and find out.

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners. Sega owns Sonic and co.

**Chapter 22: High in the Sky Road**

The clouds had cleared up in Babylon Garden, and when the weather changed, so did the track. The setup was perfect for the Survival Race. Everyone hoped nothing would happen during this survival race, as tragedy almost struck during the Babylon Garden race. Raine was almost killed as she was dropped from high in the sky off of the edge of Babylon Garden. Luckily for her, she was saved by Charmy. The race was cut short, with the current race standings turning out to be the finishing positions. Therefore, the standings looked like this: Raine (18), Rector (15), Galeon (14), Basil (14), Armand (11), Rampage (11), Sonic (10), Jet (9), Wave (9), and Knuckles (7). Those standings would change soon, and everyone knew it.

"Well, everyone, welcome to Sky Road. The clouds have cleared up, leaving a nice scene for the race. If there's one thing that everyone's hoping for, it's that nothing bad will happen. We already got a scare when Raine got dropped off of Babylon Garden. Let's hope that it won't happen again. Well, it's time for a Survival Battle, so let's get to it. Remember, to win, you need 5 points to win, or you need to have the most points in 5 minutes. Our randomizer will determine who will face off in the first of two races." Damien announced.

The randomizer started up, and 5 faces were highlighted.

"The first 5 are Galeon, Jet, Wave, Basil, and Raine. Will those 5 please report to the starting line?" Gerald requested.

The 5 racers were ready to race.

3…2…1…

GO!

The race started. Raine was out first, followed by Galeon, Jet, Wave, and Basil, in that order. They headed down the slope towards the ramp. The Chaos Emerald was near the ramp, and Raine managed to get it first. She launched off of the ramp, with the others following her. The first gate was just before the spiral, and Raine picked up the first point of the race. There was no guardrail (in the actual game, the track has guardrails in the survival race, but in this story, it doesn't), so the only option was to air slide through the spiral. It was easy though. It wasn't long before they came out of it. There was a ramp ahead, and it led to a wide expanse of track. There was a gate just before the ramp. Raine was about to go through it, but Basil bumped her to take the emerald, and he got the point. They launched off of the ramp, and landed on the track. In a normal race, there would have been a turbulence trail created by a combat fighter plane. The next gate was just ahead. It was possible to score 5 points before the first lap was completed. Basil scored the next point and sped through the slight slalom. Up ahead he saw the next gate before what looked like a sharp corner. He boosted to the gate, picking up his third point. If this were a normal race, then there would be two slabs of track gone during the third lap.

"Three points. I may just win this one." Basil said to himself.

But it was not to be. Jet boosted up and attacked, stealing the emerald. They sped through the sharp turn, and found 3 blocked off areas. One was a flight ramp, another was a power shortcut, and the last one would be a speed rail. They were off access since it was a Survival Race. Up ahead was another gate, just before the sharp turn. Jet sped through it and scored his first point. The turn had no guardrails, so the racers had to be careful. Jet took the turn with ease, but Basil boosted and attacked Jet, taking back the emerald.

"Sorry, but this race is mine." Basil taunted.

It didn't help that Basil knocked Jet off of the track. Jet reappeared on the track almost immediately, but he lost his advantage. After the turn, Basil got his fourth point by passing through a gate before the ramp. If nobody recaptured the emerald, Basil would claim the win at the next gate. Galeon was aware of this, and managed to reach Basil and attacked him, stealing the emerald.

"Now it's time for me to score some points." Galeon said to himself.

He launched off of the ramp and landed on the bottom track leading to the spiraling tower. The top area was closed off, so the bottom opening was the only one available. Galeon entered and started riding the path up the tower, with the others close behind. It wasn't long before Galeon reached the top, and he was shot out like a cannonball. He hit a billboard, landed on the bottom track, and sped towards the next gate, which was just before the finish line. He passed through it to score his first point, and sped towards the right opening. The left path held a flight type shortcut, and the middle path was a power shortcut.

Galeon sped to the hairpin spiral turn, and passed through the gate before it, claiming his second point. He spiraled down the spiral (what else would you do in a spiral), passed through the gate before the ramp to score a third point, and launched off of the ramp. He landed and started to head to the next gate, but Raine caught up to him and stole the emerald.

"Sorry, Galeon." Raine apologized. She did that to every racer that got attacked by her.

Raine then sped to the next gate and picked up her second point. But that was as far as she got. Wave reached her and stole the emerald, then sped around the spiral turn. She reached the gate to score her first point, but that would be the only point she would get, as Basil sped up to her and attacked, stealing the emerald. He sped around the turn, boosted towards the gate, and passed through it to grab the win.

"Basil has won the Survival Race!" Damien announced.

The results were: Basil (+5), Raine (+4), Galeon (+4), Jet (+2), and Wave (+1). Their points were: Basil (19), Raine (22), Galeon (18), Jet (11), and Wave (10). Things were not looking good for Jet and Wave.

It was time for the other Survival Race of the day.

"Now, will Rector, Armand, Sonic, Rampage, and Knuckles report to the start line?" Gerald requested.

Rector, Armand, Sonic, Rampage, and Knuckles took their places at the starting line.

3…2…1…

GO!

The 5 racers passed the starting line to begin the Survival Race. Rampage got off the line first, followed in order by Rector, Knuckles, Sonic, and Armand. The emerald was placed near the first ramp, and since Rampage was the first off of the line, he got the emerald first. He hit the ramp, and went real high into the air. The others followed since it was the only way to go. At the bottom of the jump, the first gate was located just before the spiral turn. It still didn't have guardrails, so the racers had to be careful.

Rampage passed through the first gate to score the first point of the race, but as soon as he made it through the spiral, Rector attacked and took the emerald.

"Sorry, but this race is mine." Rector taunted.

Rector then launched off of the ramp. The gate in front of the ramp had been removed. The next gate was up ahead, before the tight spiral turn. Rector boosted a couple of times to reach the gate, and passed through it, earning him his first point. He sped through the tight spiral and shot out towards the next gate, which had been moved from near the turn to between the power shortcut and the location of the grind rail. He passed through it, earning him his second point, before hitting the spiral turn. He sped around it, and dashed towards the gate located before the ramp leading to the tower. But Armand came up and stole the emerald.

"Catch me if you can!" Armand taunted.

Jet was in the stands nearby, and he heard Armand.

"Hey, that's my line!" Jet yelled. But Armand ignored him.

Armand reached the ramp, earning his first point by passing the gate before it. He landed on the bottom track and rode the path up the tower. He was shot out, with the others following behind.

"It looks like the second lap is about to begin. It's time to step it up!" Armand said to himself.

Armand boosted to get further ahead and saw the next gate before the finish line. He passed through it and earned his second point.

"Two down, three to go."

Armand kicked the booster again, went past the power shortcut to the tight spiral, and picked up his third point by going through the gate before the spiral. After he sped through it, he launched off of the next ramp and sped towards the next gate located before the next spiral. But he wouldn't reach it, as Sonic came up behind him and bumped into him, stealing the emerald. After taking it, Sonic boosted ahead and reached the gate, so he got his first point.

"That's my first point." Sonic said to himself. "Now I just need to gain four more to win."

"That won't happen!" Someone said from behind him.

Rampage came up and attacked Sonic, stealing the emerald. He made the sharp turn and sped towards the next gate. Since there was nobody currently attempting to take the emerald, it was easy for him to score his second point. At this point, the time remaining was 3:20. After that time, the race would end, and point scores would lock in for tournament point calculations.

"I just need to hold out for a little longer, or gain the points I need, to win." Rampage told himself.

He sped around the next sharp turn and headed for the next gate, located shortly before the ramp. As he reached it, he saw Sonic coming up behind him, and he wasn't happy.

"That was one of the cheapest attacks that have ever been done to me." Sonic yelled.

Rampage got nervous. He knew he couldn't outrace Sonic, so he had to try to get as many points as he could. He passed through the next gate for a third point and launched off of the ramp just as Sonic reached him. Since Sonic didn't have time to prepare for the jump, he didn't land fast enough. Rampage managed to charge up enough of a jump to go higher, and that allowed him to land faster. He headed into the tower and rode the rail beam up. Sonic followed. They rode the beam all the way up to the top of the tower and shot out like cannonballs. The time remaining was 2:55. Sonic chased Rampage to the finish line, where Rampage had already scored his fourth point. Sonic attacked Rampage to steal the emerald, and sped towards the next gate. But before he could reach it, Rampage attacked and retook the emerald. Rampage passed the next gate to claim his last point.

"Rampage has won his first race!" Damien announced.

"And this time I didn't cheat!" Rampage boasted.

The officials watched the race again, focusing on Rampage. It was true. Rampage had not cheated in this one.

"We checked the replays, and it is official. Rampage committed no fouls during the race, so he is awarded the win." Gerald confirmed. The crowd went wild. The results were: Rampage earned 5 for the win, Armand earned 4 for second place, Sonic and Rector gained 3 points for a third place tie, and Knuckles gained 1 point since he did not score. The standings for them were: Rampage (16), Armand (15), Sonic (13), Rector (18), and Knuckles (8).

In the starting block, Galeon walked up to Rampage.

"Good job on not cheating for the win." Galeon told him.

"Well, you told me not to cheat, so I didn't." Rampage replied.

"Well, that wraps this up, everyone. Now remember, after the Sega Illusion course, we'll find the 5 who move on to the final race. So from now until then, the racers in the last 5 positions are in danger. We'll head into the main building for the next races. We'll have to find a way to form the track. But the races aren't until this evening, so we have time. Until then, see you all!" Gerald announced.

Gerald and Damien left to rest up, and the racers went back to the airship for a little down time.

**End of Chapter 22.**

Basil has picked up another win, and Rampage earned his first win. The standings are as follows:

Raine: 22

Basil: 19

Rector: 18

Galeon: 18

Rampage: 16

**Armand: 15**

**Sonic: 13**

**Jet: 11**

**Wave: 10**

**Knuckles: 8**

Armand, Sonic, Jet, Wave, and Knuckles are in danger of being knocked out of the tournament (Look at that! OCs occupy the top 5 spots, and the only OC in danger is my OC, Armand). Will they rise back up in the standings? You'll have to find out.

Read, and you may review if you want.


	23. The Not So Digital Dimension

It's time for the tournament to continue.

The next two events will take place in the treasure room of Babylon Garden. How will that be? Read and find out.

**Chapter 23: The Not-So-Digital Dimension**

Basil picked up another win for himself, and Rampage picked up his first win in the previous Survival Race. The standings were: Raine (22), Basil (19), Rector (18), Galeon (18), Rampage (16), **Armand (15), Sonic (13), Jet (11), Wave (10), and Knuckles (8)**.

But Gerald noticed something about the scores. Something didn't seem right. He took a look at the race records, noted the bonus points anyone had received, looked at the points everyone gained for finishing positions, and he finally noticed the error.

"Wait a minute everyone. There has been a slight error in the standings. The 5 bonus points Rector earned in the Babylon Garden race for 9 attacks in 9 seconds were not added to his score. As compensation, we will give those 5 points to him immediately." Gerald announced. With that, Rector's score went from 18 to 23, bringing him into the lead in the standings.

It was time for the Digital Dimension race. The only problem was: How were they going to make it appear?

"Now, it's time for the Digital Dimension race, so let's go." Gerald told everyone.

"Uh, yeah, just one problem, Gerald: HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THERE!?" Damien yelled. Unfortunately, he had yelled into the headset, and everyone had to cover their ears to avoid going deaf.

"Jeez, Damien, don't yell into the headset. You'll give us all headaches!" Gerald told him. "At any rate, that's a good question. How are we going to get there?"

Jet came up with that answer.

"Leave it to me." Jet answered. He then pulled out Shahra's ring. "Shahra, I need you!" Jet called. Shahra came out of the ring.

"What do you need, master?" Shahra asked.

"I wish that the Digital Dimension track was in the Babylon Guardian's chamber." Jet spoke out his wish.

"As you wish."

Shahra then waved her hand at the chamber, and a slight earthquake took place, signaling that the track was ready.

"Your wish has been granted. The track has been set and is ready to be raced on." Shahra told Jet.

"Thanks." Jet replied. Shahra then disappeared.

The racers headed into the treasure room. Almost immediately, the large room changed into the track. The starting line was up ahead. The room had changed from a large room with a blue floor and ceiling to a place that looked like the world of hell.

"Well, this wasn't what I expected." Galeon said.

"Rector, I'm scared." Raine nervously said as she hid behind Rector.

"It's okay, Raine. Nothing's going to happen." Rector reassured her.

"We just want to warn you all, this place is not for the faint-of-heart. If you don't want to race, I won't stop you from leaving." Damien said to everyone.

Sonic, Knuckles, Jet, Wave, Galeon, Rampage, Armand, Basil, Rector, and Raine stayed. Without looking, Damien could tell Gerald was trying to slip away.

"Gerald! Get back here!" Damien commanded. As soon as he heard his name, Gerald stopped in his tracks.

"But I thought you said if we didn't want to race, we could leave." Gerald tried to protest.

"That's the thing. You're not one of the racers, so you can't leave." Damien pointed out.

Every racer was nervous, but they knew they had to race or be disqualified. Everyone was ready. Gerald and Damien had brought in cameras so everyone that didn't come in could watch the race. And the spectators didn't want to come in because of the scary nature of the track.

"Alright everyone, welcome to Digital Dimension, one of the scariest tracks ever devised. This track is not a track that those of you who get scared easily will want to race on. As usual, the standard race rules apply, so we don't need to go over them again. After this race, we'll take a few hours in order to let the racers calm down and gather their thoughts together, then we'll do the next Survival Race. So let's get this over with. I don't like this place." Gerald announced.

The racers took their places at the starting line. The countdown to the race began.

5…4…3…2…1…

GO!

The 10 racers crossed the starting line and hopped onto their boards to start the race. The race started with a quick double-turn that led left and then right. If you went too far to the left, you could fall into the abyss. The racers knew this, however. The power types could take a shortcut through a Babylonian statue that bypassed the double-turn. The power types took that little shortcut while the other racers were left to take the double-turn. They headed down a slope that led to a ramp. Unlike other ramps, however, waiting in the abyss past the ramp was a spirit ball that was in the form of a ghost face. Sonic, Knuckles, Jet, and Wave were used to the ghost, but the others weren't.

"Whoa! What is that?" Galeon asked.

"Don't worry. That isn't real. This track tests your bravery in the hell, tests your concentration in the heaven, and tests your senses in the digitalized corridor. You'll know what I mean when we get to those areas." Jet explained.

That calmed everyone down. But it was only temporary. They couldn't land on the upper track for this one, so they had to take the low road, and they couldn't believe what they saw. A bunch of spiritual hands were emerging from the pit, trying to grab anyone who came too close. Jet decided to lead them past the obstacle.

"Stay on the outside and they can't reach you. Just don't go into that purple flow, because it will slowly pull you towards the hands." Jet told them.

They followed Jet around the area until they were clear of the hands.

"After that, the rest of the track isn't that scary. Now let's continue the race." Jet told them. Then he kicked the booster.

The race continued. Jet had taken the lead after telling the others about what was incoming. Raine wasn't doing too well since she was nervous. She had no idea what would come next. Rector saw this.

"Are you okay, Raine?" Rector asked.

"Y…yes, Rector." Raine answered. "I'm…just nervous."

"It's okay, Raine. You don't have to worry. Just stay by me." Rector told her.

Rector and Raine caught up to the others, and they weren't that far ahead of them. Jet still had the lead, but Sonic was catching up to him. With an attack, Sonic took the lead, leaving Jet behind. The attack allowed everyone to pass him since they weren't far behind him.

"And I thought I would keep that lead." Jet said to himself.

Jet then caught up to Raine and Rector. But he didn't bother attacking them. Instead, he passed them and attacked Basil. They were near a large green gate. It opened up and they saw a bright light.

"Get ready to enter the heaven!" Jet called to the others. Everyone heard him.

They sped into the door and found themselves rising up in a bluish-green void of light. It took them up to the top where they were shot out in a heaven-like place. There was nothing but white light surrounding them. There were some old buildings throughout the area, but they didn't distract the racers. On the far left was a 100-ring capsule, and some flight accelerator rings. On the right was a grind rail that led to the upper floor of the first track structure. Power types would have to go through the structure, but they could bash through the glass windows without a problem. Armand, Sonic, and Jet took the grind rail on the right, Raine, Wave, and Basil took the flight accelerator rings on the left, and the rest remained on the main path. Why did Galeon remain on the main path? Up ahead, he saw another grinding rail.

On the roof of the structure, Armand, Sonic, and Jet found a semi-sharp turn that led to another grind rail. They hopped on it and grinded to another rail. They had to jump to get to this one. Down below, Galeon hopped over the side just before the next structure and landed on that grind rail. He grinded around the structure and landed in front of it. He was now in the lead. On that structure that Galeon just landed in front of, the other speed types had just found another rail that led to what looked like a drop-off.

The flying types saw that the accelerator rings led to the top of the second structure. They saw the speed types were near the second structure, so they decided to keep following the accelerator rings. All of the racers were close together. It could be anyone's race for the time being, with Galeon in the lead.

As they were nearing the end, the environment suddenly started to change.

"Get ready for the digital void!" Jet called out.

The environment suddenly changed to a black digital tunnel. Every couple of seconds, white lights would flash across the walls, following the track. Up ahead, there were 3 type shortcuts. On the left was a grind rail, in the center was a power barricade area, and on the right were some flight accelerator rings. The speed types used the grind rail, the power types took the power barricade path, and the flying types took the flight accelerator rings. If a racer couldn't hit the shortcut, then that racer had no choice but to take the low road, and it was much slower. At the end of the section, there was a ramp. It led to a right turn that lead…to a dead end. The racers launched off of the ramp and landed near some dash pads. They sped up the slope, made the turn, and headed for the dead end.

"Get ready! We're about to enter the hell again!" Jet called.

And sure enough, the digital void disappeared and reformed into the hell again. The racers hit a slight drop-off and crossed the finish line to begin the second lap, with Galeon still in the lead.

This was a close race, because all 10 racers were within 2 seconds between first and last place. It could be anyone's race. Galeon led the others through the double-turn before heading towards the ramp. The spiritual face was still there, but the racers jumped the ramp like it was nothing. Wave landed on the bottom track, while the others landed on the top. Wave couldn't believe it. She was the only one that landed on the bottom track. She wasn't worried, though. Ironically, even though she was on the bottom track, she was in the lead. She just repeated what everyone did on the first lap: stay on the outside, away from the hands. She was rounding the turn when she saw the statues, which signaled the end of the spirit hands. She boosted towards them.

All of a sudden, one of the hands seemed to go out of control. It blocked Wave's path. She tried to swerve out of the way, but the hand followed her movements. It then grabbed Wave and slowly started to pull her into the abyss. As if that wasn't enough, the hand started to crush Wave. She was slowly losing air, but she managed to work up enough of a breath to scream.

"HELP ME!" Wave screamed.

Up on the top track, Jet was the first to hear the scream. He looked down and saw Wave about to be pulled in. He also noticed that the hand was extended further than usual, and it was crushing the life out of her.

"No! Wave!" Jet yelled. The others noticed what was going on. Gerald saw what had happened and cut the camera, then locked the positions in the way they were before the hand grabbed Wave.

"Forget the race. Wave's life is more important." Jet told everyone. He then leapt off of the side. He then pulled out Shahra's ring.

"Shahra, I need your help!" Jet called to the ring. Shahra suddenly appeared.

"What is it, master?" Shahra asked.

"I wish Wave was free from that spirit's grasp!" Jet told her.

Shahra tried to free Wave with her magic, but nothing happened.

"Something's wrong. My powers are useless. I don't know what's going on!" Shahra told Jet.

"What!?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do anything." Shahra said.

Just then, Jet had an idea.

"Alright then. I wish I had the green Ark." Jet told her.

"That I can do." Shahra replied. She then waved her hand, and the green Ark appeared and latched onto Jet's left wrist. Jet then sped down towards Wave.

"I'm coming, Wave!" Jet called out to her. Wave looked up and saw Jet coming to save her.

"Jet!" She weakly said.

But a bunch of spirit hands rose up to Jet and tried to stop him.

"That's not going to work. GRAVITY CONTROL!" Jet called.

Jet's Ark started to glow, and a gravity field appeared around Jet. He then shot the field at the hands. The field enveloped the hands and stopped them. Jet then continued to speed down towards Wave, hoping he wasn't too late. As he neared Wave, he looked at her, and saw that she was near death. He couldn't stand it. He reached Wave and took her hand. He could barely feel a pulse, so Wave was still alive, but barely. He tried to pull Wave back up with him, but the hand increased the strength of its pull. Jet was slowly losing the battle until he realized that he could still use the Ark. He then knew that he could rescue Wave by saying two simple words.

"GRAVITY DIVE!"

Jet's Ark then glowed brightly, and a small black hole formed. Jet went through it, and he shot out at speeds faster than sound. The hand couldn't retain its grip on Wave, and was destroyed from the speed and power. Jet pulled Wave along with him as he shot out of the abyss. He landed on the track, where the others were waiting. Jet set Wave down, then checked her pulse. It was slowly decreasing. Jet felt rage build inside him. Could he have been too late?

"She's losing her pulse. Is there any way to save her?" Jet asked.

"I don't know. I have a life potion right here, but I don't know if it will work." Raine answered.

"Well, now would be a good time to find out. Use it." Jet told her.

Raine did so. Jet opened Wave's mouth enough for Raine to pour the potion in. The potion went into Wave's mouth. Jet sat her upright to help the potion go down. It went down, and after a few seconds, Wave had regained her normal pulse. She was breathing normally again. Jet was relieved.

"Wave, I'm so glad you're okay." Jet said as he hugged Wave.

"Thank you for saving me, Jet." Wave replied as she returned the hug.

"Well, you have to thank Raine as well. It was her potion that brought you back." Jet told her. Wave turned to Raine.

"Thank you, Raine."

"You're welcome." Raine said.

Gerald got to where the racers were.

"What happened here?" Gerald asked.

"Wave got caught by one of the hands. It reached out and grabbed her, then tried to kill her as it brought her down into the abyss." Jet explained.

"I saw that. When that happened, I locked the racing positions. It looks like we'll have to do the same thing we did in Babylon Garden." Gerald told them.

"You do that. But even though I was in the lead, I want you to give Jet the win." Wave requested. Jet was shocked at what Wave had just requested.

"But Wave, if you do that, it will put you down in 7th place." Jet told her. Wave then kissed him.

"You deserve it after saving me." Wave told her. "I don't care if it puts me down in that position."

Gerald acknowledged it, then contacted Damien.

"Damien, it's Gerald."

"Yo, G-man, what's up?"

"I want you to announce what had happened, and tell them that Wave has given first place to Jet." Gerald told him.

"I'm on it." Damien responded. He then started to announce the incident.

"I just got word that Wave was almost killed by a spirit hand gone out of control. How it happened, I don't know. But Jet managed to rescue Wave, so she gave Jet the win even though it puts her down in 7th. With that, Jet wins." Damien announced.

The race was over. The results would turn out to be: Jet (+10), Galeon (+9), Armand (+8), Sonic (+7), Knuckles (+6), Rector (+5), Wave (+4), Basil (+3), Raine (+2), and Rampage (+1).

"Well, after this, we'll take a few hours for a break. This will allow the racers to gather their thoughts and calm down, and we'll be back for the survival race. Until then, see you all later." Damien announced.

Gerald and the racers left the treasure room, which had turned back to normal. The racers headed towards Jet's airship to rest up, while Gerald and Damien took their leave. Wave went into Jet's room, because after what she had gone through, she knew Jet was the only one who could comfort her.

**End of Chapter 23**

Someone is deliberately trying to end the tournament in terror. But who could be the one trying this? You'll just have to keep your eyes on the story to find out. This story is winding down. There will be 4 chapters left for races, and I have something special planned for the last chapter or two. I have yet to decide on how many chapters I should do after the final race.

As for the standings, here you go:

Rector: 28

Galeon: 27

Raine: 24

Armand: 23

Basil: 22

**Jet: 21**

**Sonic: 20**

**Rampage: 17**

**Wave: 14**

**Knuckles: 14**

Now Rampage is the only OC in danger. Sonic, Jet, Wave, and Knuckles had better find a way to rebound, or else they will be eliminated after the next 3 races. You'll have to find out as the chapters come along.

Read, and you may review if you want.


	24. Surviving the Babylon Guardian

Oops. I forgot to upload this chapter. Sorry.

It's time for the next Survival Race.

In the last race, Wave nearly got killed by a spirit hand that went out of control for some reason. This thing somehow managed to resist Shahra's magic as Jet tried to save her. He did, thanks to the green Ark. Even though Wave was in the lead when the race got called, she thought Jet deserved the win since he saved her life.

Who is causing these incidents? Is someone deliberately trying to eliminate the racers? And if so, who is it? You'll just have to keep an eye on the story to find out.

**Chapter 24: Surviving the Babylon Guardian**

It was time to move on in the tournament. The standings at this point were: Rector (28), Galeon (27), Raine (24), Armand (23), Basil (22), **Jet (21), Sonic (20), Rampage (17), Wave (14),** **and Knuckles (14).**

After the last race, the racers took a few hours to calm down. Especially Wave, who needed to regain her composure after suffering a near-death. Now everyone was ready for the Survival Race, and they were hoping that nothing would happen to interrupt. Jet pulled Shahra's ring out.

"Shahra, I need you!" Jet called, prompting Shahra's appearance.

"What is your wish, master?" Shahra asked.

"I wish that the Babylon Guardian track was in the treasure room." Jet told her.

"Your wish is my command." Shahra replied. She then waved her hand towards the treasure room, and everyone could feel a light earthquake, signaling that the track was ready. The racers went into the treasure room. Gerald followed so he could cover the race from the inside. Damien stayed out so he could report the race to the spectators on the outside.

"Alright, everyone, it's time for the next Survival Race, and it's in the Babylon Guardian track. Yes, it's another one of those tracks, but the racers must do this or be disqualified. Remember, you have to score 5 points in 5 minutes. Let's see who will be taking part in the first Survival Race." Gerald announced.

The randomizer came up and started to shuffle the racers. It wasn't long before 5 pictures were lit up.

"The first 5 racers will be Sonic, Rampage, Wave, Raine, and Armand." Gerald announced.

Sonic, Rampage, Wave, Raine, and Armand took their spots. The countdown began.

3…2…1…

GO!

The survival race began. Raine was the first one out of the starting gate, followed by Armand, Wave, Sonic, and then Rampage, in that order. The emerald was placed about halfway through the starting straightaway. Raine, being the first one out, reached the emerald first. She preserved air by boosting just before picking up the emerald. This would allow her to keep the emerald longer. She saw the first gate up ahead, just before the first turn, which was a sharp one. It wasn't long before she reached the gate, and she passed through it to score her first point before she rounded the corner. But it was at that point when Wave took the emerald from her by bumping into her.

"Try to catch me!" Wave called as she shot around the corner.

Wave launched off of the ramp, doing a few tricks in the air to regain what little air she had used during her time with the emerald. She landed and boosted immediately, shooting through the gate that was placed just after the landing point, and thus scoring her first point. Because she had boosted before passing through the gate, she regained air. The next gate was located before the next sharp turn. Wave boosted once to gain some distance. She looked back and saw Rampage catching up. Wave boosted again, hoping to reach the next gate before Rampage stole the emerald. Luckily for her, the boost was enough to help her reach the next turn. She passed through the gate before the turn to score a second point before Rampage attacked and stole the emerald.

Rampage launched off of the ramp and shot towards the starting line. The next gate, which was the final one before heading to the first one again, was just behind the finish line. Rampage shot through it to score his first point, then he boosted, hoping to gain a lead so he could have a better chance of gaining a second point. He was halfway to the next gate before he looked back. He saw Armand trying to catch up so he could take the emerald. Rampage boosted in an attempt to get away. The next gate was just ahead. Rampage boosted, putting his board into the caution zone. His board soon went into the danger zone, but Rampage made it to the gate and passed through it, gaining his second point. Armand followed Rampage as he shot around the corner and sped towards the ramp. Rampage launched off of it and went farther than Armand. The gate was just ahead, so it was going to be a close one. Rampage and Armand both boosted, and just before Armand attacked, Rampage passed through the gate for his third point.

Armand was now in possession of the emerald. He and Sonic were the only ones who had not scored yet. Armand boosted down the straightaway towards the next gate located before the turn. He had managed to create some distance between himself and the other racers, so he could reach the next gate with ease. But Sonic was closing in, and fast. Armand had to score at least one point. He boosted again and the momentum was enough to get him to the gate. He scored his first point and sped around the turn to the ramp. He launched off of it and performed tricks to regain air, and it helped. Sonic didn't manage to go as high, so he couldn't go as far. Armand had opened the distance.

"Now if I can just gain a lead, I can win this event." Armand told himself.

Just before reaching the gate before the start/finish line, Armand laid a tornado. He then passed through the gate to regain some air and score his second point. Sonic got hit by the tornado, and that allowed Armand to open the distance even more. He boosted once to speed towards the next gate, located just before the turn. As he closed in on it, he boosted again. This action put him into the caution zone, but he wasn't concerned. He passed through the gate to score a third point and gain enough air to get him to the ramp. The time remaining was 2:30. Half of the time limit had passed since the survival race began.

"Only 2:30 left? I need to hurry up and end this thing." Armand said to himself.

Armand launched off of the ramp and regained more air. He passed through the gate located shortly after the ramp to score a fourth point.

"Just one more point and I'll win." Armand told himself.

"That's not going to happen!" Someone called from behind him.

Armand looked behind him only to get ran over by a spin-dash. Sonic had caught up and stolen the emerald. He couldn't believe it.

"Damn it. And I was so close, too." Armand said as he regained his momentum.

Sonic took advantage of Armand being stunned and boosted to the next gate. He boosted again as he came closer and passed through it to finally get on the scoreboard. Speeding around the turn, he launched off of the ramp and landed far ahead. He boosted to the gate just before the start/finish line to score another point. He used some of that air and boosted to the next gate. He didn't boost a second time because of confidence. He reached the next gate and scored his third point.

"That's three points. Only two more left." Sonic said to himself.

Sonic sped around the corner to the ramp and launched off of it. He passed through it to score a fourth point and tie with Armand. Speaking of Armand, he was approaching fast. Sonic looked behind him and saw this. This was going to be close. Whoever had possession of the emerald when they passed the next gate would be credited with the point and would win. Sonic and Armand boosted, Sonic to reach the gate, Armand to steal the emerald. It was between them. They were right at the gate. At the exact moment Armand attacked, Sonic passed through the gate. It was too close to call.

"This is too close to call. We'll have to check a replay to determine the winner." Gerald announced.

The replay was checked, and after a couple of minutes, Gerald announced the results.

"We just checked the replay, and it tells us that…Sonic wins this race!" Gerald announced.

"Yes! I won!" Sonic yelled as he jumped up.

"Dang it!" Armand said. He couldn't believe he had lost.

The results: Sonic (+5), Armand (+4), Rampage (+3), Wave (+2), and Raine (+1). The standings between them were: Sonic (25), Armand (27), Rampage (20), Wave (16), and Raine (25).

"Now that the first Survival Race is over, let's get the other 5 racers out here." Gerald announced.

Knuckles, Basil, Galeon, Jet, and Rector took their positions at the starting line.

3…2…1…

GO!

The race began. Jet took an early lead, followed by Basil, Rector, Galeon, and Knuckles. Since Jet was the first one out, he got the emerald first. Once he got the emerald, he boosted ahead, trying to put some distance between him and the others. Jet quickly reached the first gate and passed through it to score his first point. After rounding the corner and launching off of the ramp, he sped to the next gate to score his second point.

"Two down and it hasn't even been 30 seconds yet." Jet complimented himself.

Jet's air tank was full, so he could easily boost twice without going into the caution zone. He boosted once to increase the distance, then again to reach the gate. He passed through it to score a third point. He sped around the corner, launched off of the ramp, and was about to pass through the next gate to score a fourth point when Galeon bumped into him and stole the emerald.

"This race is mine." Galeon taunted.

"I'll get you." Jet yelled.

Galeon passed through the gate to score his first point. But it wasn't long before Jet regained the emerald. The other three had been left behind. There was no way they could win unless something happened. Jet boosted to put some distance between him and Galeon, then boosted again to reach the next gate. He scored his fourth point, sped around the turn, launched off of the ramp, and boosted through the final gate to win.

"Jet wins this one!" Gerald announced.

"I'm the best!" Jet gloated.

It was amazing. The results: Jet gained 5 for the win, Galeon gained 4 for finishing second, and the others got 1 point since they didn't score. Their standings were: Jet (26), Galeon (31), Knuckles (15), Basil (23), and Rector (29).

"Luckily, nothing happened in this race that threatened anyone's life. Now, let's return to Station Square for the Sega Carnival race. It's the final race of the main tournament, excluding the actual final race. See you all there."

Gerald wrapped everything up, and they left Babylon Garden. The racers boarded Jet's airship to head to the next track.

**End of Chapter 24.**

Yeah, I know. The second survival race wasn't that exciting, or long. But I've already got the final race in Sand Ruins in my mind. That's the race you all want to see, I know that. But I'm not skipping the other races. Plus, I've got the other two stories I'm doing in my mind.

The standings so far:

Galeon: 31

Rector: 29

Armand: 27

Jet: 26

Sonic: 25

**Raine: 25**

**Basil: 23**

**Rampage: 20**

**Wave: 16**

**Knuckles: 15**

Raine, Basil, Rampage, Wave, and Knuckles are in danger. They only have two more events before elimination. Will they be able to rebound?

Read, and you may review if you want.


	25. Carnival Race

**(This is the first of three chapters I have to redo, since I lost the original version. So this race may be somewhat different from the original version.)**

Ready for the next race?

This next race takes place in Sega Carnival. But you all knew that already.

I won't keep you all waiting, since you all know what's coming and you all know the disclaimer.

**Chapter 25: Carnival Race.**

The current standings were as follows: Galeon (31), Rector (29), Armand (27), Jet (26), Sonic (25), **Raine (25), Basil (23), Rampage (20), Wave (16), and Knuckles (15).**

A carnival had been set up in Station Square, and it was the setting for the next race. The carnival was called Sega Carnival for an unknown reason.

Gerald and Damien were ready to begin the pre-race announcements.

"Alright, everyone, it's time for the next race. And where better to have it than the Sega Carnival. As you all know, the competition is fierce, and there's no telling who will win this race. The standard race rules apply, so there's no need to go over them. Also, since Rector and Galeon are in the lead, if they finish higher than 3rd place, they will automatically move on. So, let's get this race over with."

Gerald and Damien headed toward the announcer's booth, and the 10 racers took their places at the starting line.

3…2…1…

GO!

The race began with Knuckles getting out of the starting block first, followed by the others. They launched off of a ramp that led to the first area. This place had buildings that moved up and down as if moving to some music, the track was a blue cobblestone form, and on a platform near the first turn they saw someone that looked like a monkey holding a pair of maracas. A couple of others were dancing beside the monkey.

"Where are we?" Sonic asked.

"The scanner says that this area is called Samba de Amigo, whatever that is." Armand replied.

They saw a rail that led around the turn, but a racer would have to launch off of the ramp to reach it. There was a large red door that looked like a power shortcut. Knuckles busted through it, but the others were riding a large turbulence trail that he had created from the speed, and they followed him through it. Up ahead was a ramp that led to what looked like a ship. All 10 racers launched off of it, and they all landed on the ship. There were two decks, and the racers landed on the bottom deck of the ship. Not one racer reached the top deck.

"Now where are we?" Rector asked.

"Supposedly, this area is from something called Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg." Armand replied after checking his scanner.

The ship was slightly and slowly rocking due to the water. It was nothing to the racers since all ships did that. It didn't affect the race one bit. Up ahead was a right turn, and this was when someone made the first attack of the race.

"HERE I COME!"

Sonic yelled in Knuckles's face, causing him to lose the lead.

After the turn was a quarter-pipe, which racers could launch off of to reach either some flight accelerator rings or a grind rail. Past that was a red door that served as a power type shortcut. But nobody bothered to take any shortcuts. Instead, after passing the shortcuts, they rounded a couple of turns and headed toward a cannon.

"Get ready, because we're about to enter an area from something called NiGHTS Into Dreams. That will lead us into something called Super Monkey Ball." Armand called out.

They entered the cannon, which shot them out into a half-tube that went around a tower. To add to the "excitement", they were in what looked like egg shells. It wasn't long before they reached the end of the half-tube, which shot them out into an area that had 3 platforms, each with a ramp, and a net that hung over a lake. Sonic was still in the lead, and he launched off of the first ramp coming out of the small cave that preceded the area. Up above and to the right were some flight accelerator rings that served as a major shortcut. Behind him, Basil, who was in 3rd, and Wave, who was in 5th, took that shortcut.

Sonic launched off of the ramp, and he was at level 2 due to a few rings that he picked up before launching. He saw some large bowling pins.

"It's time for some real bowling." Sonic said.

But when Sonic did his level 2 attack, he bounced off of the pins.

"Ow. How is that possible?" Sonic asked.

He didn't notice the red power sign before the pins. He then saw Rampage, who had just passed him, punching his way through the pins. Rector followed him as they passed Sonic.

"Oh, now I know it. I should have known." Sonic said to himself as he recovered.

After launching off of the three ramps, or speeding across the net at the bottom, they entered a city-like area.

"Now where are we?" Galeon asked.

"The scanner says this area is from something called Crazy Taxi. Whatever that is." Armand replied.

The racers saw a sign pointing to the right, signaling that they should go in that direction. But Rector saw something suspicious behind the sign. He went behind it, approached the circle, and a taxi appeared out of nowhere. Rector hopped in, and the taxi took off. It sped by the other racers, who couldn't believe it. The taxi took Rector to what looked like a gas station, and Rector hopped out as the taxi left the area. Rector had the lead.

Back before that area, some of the racers sped off of the edge to reach a lower track. Knuckles saw his chance to get the lead, so he attacked Rampage, who had the lead at the time.

"SCREW PUNCH!" Knuckles called out.

Knuckles was at level 3, so the attack left Rampage screwed up, literally. As Rampage unwound himself, Knuckles took the lead as he launched off of the ramp. If a racer went high enough, they would be launched up to a short, high track to the start/finish line. If not, they would have to take a couple of sharp corners to reach the line.

Knuckles, Galeon, and Sonic managed to launch high enough to reach the top, but the other six didn't. They had to take the lower route. As the three racers sped along the top path, up ahead they saw Rector nearing the start/finish line.

"No way! How'd he get in front?" Sonic asked.

They passed the path where anyone that took the lower path would emerge from, and saw a few of the other racers coming towards them. Meanwhile, Rector had just passed the finish line to complete lap one.

"One lap down, and Rector has the lead as the second lap begins." Damien announced as he saw Rector pass by.

Rector launched off of the ramp, and the others followed. This time, Sonic and Armand managed to reach the grind rail, and they followed it around the corner as Rector made his way to the power barricade and blasted through it. As he emerged, he saw Sonic and Armand pass him.

"Darn it. They passed me." Rector said to himself.

The other racers rounded the corner and headed towards the upcoming ramp, which Sonic, Armand, and Rector had already launched off of. But the three didn't make it to the top path. But Basil and Raine made it. The others didn't make it, though. Because the top path was shorter than the bottom path, by the time everyone reached the cannon, Basil had the lead, with Raine in second. Everyone was shot out into the rolling egg area.

After the dizzying ride was over, everyone tried to get across the ramps as fast as they could. The faster someone made it through the area, the better the chance that racer could grab the lead. And Jet, who was at level 2, took the bottom path, where the net was. He boosted repeatedly to get through the area, and as he neared the end of it, Basil got hit by his attack, then Raine, Sonic, and Armand, in that order. Jet now had the lead, and he was headed into the city area.

Jet found the area behind the sign, and he went behind it to find a taxi waiting. Armand was right behind him, and he tried to get ahead so he could jump in the taxi. But Jet reached it first, and hopped in as the taxi took off. Then another taxi appeared, and Armand hopped into that one. The others had followed them, and as a taxi left, another appeared, and soon all 10 racers were riding in their own taxis. Since Jet was the first one in, he was the first one to jump out. The others soon followed. Sonic, who was at level 3 at the time, boosted into Jet, tripping him over and taking the lead as he crossed the start/finish line.

"Sonic has the lead as we enter the final lap of the race." Gerald announced as the racers passed by.

Sonic led the other racers off of the ramp, through the turn, all the way to the ship…and then lost the lead to a level 3 Galeon.

"KATANA THRASH!" Galeon called as he hit Sonic with both of his katanas, thereby stunning him. Galeon now had the lead as they sped into the cannon.

After the dizzying ride, the racers emerged in the next area, which hadn't changed. Galeon, who was still in the lead, launched himself across the ramps, trying to keep the lead without messing up. Rector was behind him. If they finished higher than fourth, they would automatically move on, and wouldn't have to participate in the upcoming Survival Race.

As they entered the city part for the final time, Knuckles passed both of them as they were launching off of the ramp. They sped around the final corners with the other racers following them all closely. Soon, the finish line was in sight. Knuckles crossed it first to win the race.

"Knuckles wins the race!" Gerald announced.

"No contest!" Knuckles gloated.

The results were: Knuckles (+10), Galeon (+9), Rector (+8), Raine (+7), Basil (+6), Sonic (+5), Armand (+4), Jet (+3), Wave (+2), and Rampage (+1).

"And with that, Galeon and Rector will automatically move on. They are too far ahead for anyone to catch up." Damien announced.

Galeon and Rector high-fived each other. They were moving on to the final race automatically.

"This also means that there is no need for them to participate in the next Survival Race. Congratulations to them! Well, with that, we'll see you all tonight for the final Survival Race of the tournament. Until then, have a good day."

Gerald and Damien took their leave, and the racers headed to Jet's airship to rest up.

**End of Chapter 25.**

Finally, this chapter has been recovered. I know it's not as good as the original, but bear with me.

By the way, here are the standings: Galeon (Moving on), Rector (Moving on), Raine (32),Armand (31), Sonic (30), **Jet (29),** **Basil (29), Knuckles (25), Rampage (21), and Wave (18).**

Now, only 2 more chapters to go until I have finally caught up.

Read, and you may review if you want.


	26. Illusionary Finish

**(This is the second of three chapters that has to be redone.)**

It's time for the final Survival Race.

As you all know, Knuckles won the last race, and Galeon and Rector managed to get enough points to automatically move on.

Let's see who all makes it to the final race. (Even though you already know.)

Disclaimer: You know it already.

**Chapter 26: Illusionary Finish.**

It was nighttime in Station Square. The carnival race had been done earlier in the day, so there was only one Survival Race left in the schedule.

The standings at this time, excluding Rector and Galeon, were: Raine (32),Armand (31), Sonic (30), **Jet (29),** **Basil (29), Knuckles (25), Rampage (21), and Wave (18).** But those point totals wouldn't last long.

The 8 remaining competitors were lined up in the Sega Illusion course's starting block, waiting for the pre-race announcements. They didn't have to wait long, because Gerald started talking.

"It's time for the final Survival Race of the tournament. As you all know, Rector and Galeon have already moved on, and will not have to participate in this race. Now, any points gained throughout the second half of this tournament will not count for this race because in this one, all 8 racers fight for the top three positions."

The crowd gasped, and the racers were taken by surprise. How would that play out? Damien had the answer to that.

"In case you all want to know," Damien began. "The race works out this way: Racers battle for points as usual, but there is no point limit, and the three racers with the most points at the end of three minutes will move on. Since there's no point limit, the amount of time has been cut off. It's simple to follow. Standard Survival Race rules apply, and I hope you all remember them. Now, let's get this race started."

Damien and Gerald headed towards the announcer's booth, and the racers got ready for the Survival Race.

3…2…1…

GO!

The Survival Race began with Raine being the first out of the starting block, followed by the others. The gate located at the starting line would not count until they returned after completing a lap since the emerald was located before the first ramp. Raine picked it up, and launched off of the ramp as the others followed her. With three guaranteed positions on the line, everyone was determined to gain as many points as possible. Raine moved through the first area to reach the first gate, located before the turn. Everyone recognized the first area, because it was also the first area in the previous track.

"Not this area again!" Sonic complained.

Raine passed through the first gate to score the first point in the race, but it wasn't long before Basil attacked and took the emerald. Basil then boosted as they entered another familiar area. It was the NiGHTS area, which was the third area in the previous track. The track here had a purple tint on it, and there were several orange balls in the air that formed rings. Nobody could reach them, however, because they were located too high in the air. But nobody cared, since this wasn't a normal race.

Basil reached the upcoming turn, which was a slight left followed by a sharp right that led to a ramp. The next gate was located before the ramp, and Basil passed through it to score his first point, then launched off of the ramp and landed on the next part of the track. If this were a normal race, if a racer launched high enough, then a trail of purple energy would appear as an alternate track.

Not long after Basil landed, he was attacked by Jet, who also stole the emerald. He boosted ahead while Basil recovered and headed towards the next couple of sharp corners located after the light left turn. The others were catching up, but Jet wasn't worried. He was the master of Extreme Gear, after all. He rounded the sharp turns and came upon the next gate. He passed through it, earning him his first point. He then made another left turn and started heading into what looked like a space port. He entered and grabbed onto a nearby rocket which was starting to take off. The others followed a few seconds behind him. Jet looked on the side of his rocket.

"Space Channel 5? What the hell?" Jet asked.

The rocket took him around a nearby radio tower at high speeds, even faster than his board. He landed in a different space port which had two quarter-pipes, two lower paths near a large hole, two upper paths located next to the quarter-pipes, and if it were a normal race, 8 drones firing energy waves. The next gate was located at the end of the area, just before the next turn. Jet bypassed the hole by taking the upper path on the right so the chance he would fall into a hole would be reduced.

Jet made it to the end of the area and passed through the next gate to take the lead in points scored. He made the turn and launched off of the ramp into the next area.

"What is this place?" Jet asked himself.

Armand had caught up, and was running his scanner.

"Apparently, this place is from something called Chu Chu Rocket. Whatever that is." Armand replied.

"Okay, thanks." Jet replied. Then he realized that he was in danger. "Hey, wait a…OOF!"

Armand took that time to attack Jet and steal the emerald. Jet couldn't believe it.

"Very clever, Armand." Jet remarked.

Armand made his way through the area by hitting a green panel, which propelled him across other green panels to the end of the area, where he turned right and headed straight towards the start/finish line. The next gate was located at the line, and Armand passed through it to score his first point. Just before hitting the ramp at the beginning of the first area, he laid a tornado. Jet, who was trying to catch up and retake the emerald, got caught up in it and was slowed down. Armand boosted ahead and passed through the gate before the turn, gaining his second point. He launched off of the ramp and landed perfectly before boosting ahead. He made the turns up ahead and boosted through the next gate, which earned him his third point, and therefore giving him the lead.

He didn't keep the emerald any longer, though, because Rampage had caught up, passed Jet, then attacked Armand to take the emerald. He entered the space port and caught a rocket which took him to the other space port. But before he could get through the entrance to the inside, he was attacked by Jet, who had caught up. He really wanted to increase his points, since Armand had the lead. But Jet was so arrogant in his desire that he forgot about the large pit, and he fell into it, which caused him to lose the emerald. It was reset just beyond the starting line.

"How could I have been so ignorant about the pit?" Jet asked himself.

"I guess it's because you were too busy wondering about how you'd get back into the lead." Sonic said as he passed him.

Sonic did a couple of boosts to increase his lead on Jet. He rounded the corner and launched off of the ramp into the next area, then used the green dash panels to get to the other end. He made the turn and headed towards the line. As he passed it, the time left was 1:00. Sonic had only one minute to score at least 3 points. Sonic managed to reach the emerald and launched off of the ramp into the course without any problems. Boosting once, he reached the first gate to score his first point. After making the next couple of turns, he reached the next gate to score a second point.

"Come on. Just two more and I'll be in first." Sonic said to himself.

Sonic continued racing. He managed to do a good job at keeping ahead of the other racers as he rounded the next couple of turns. He passed through the gate to score a third point, which tied him with Jet and Armand.

"One more point, and I'll have the lead." Sonic said to himself. He would have to speed it up, though, because there was only 30 seconds left on the clock as he entered the space port. The rocket he grabbed only took 3 seconds to drop him off at the next space port. He boosted through the port, but he missed the next gate by mere inches.

"No way!" Sonic complained.

As Sonic sped through the final area, there was only 10 seconds left on the clock. He quickly made it through the area and entered the starting block. He was running out of time.

8…7…6…

Sonic had the gate in his sight.

5…4…

He stretched out towards it.

3…2…1…

Sonic boosted through the gate at the exact moment the timer hit zero. Unfortunately, he kicked the booster at the moment all boards were to stop in place. The momentum of the boost plus the force of the boards stopping tossed Sonic from his board. He landed on the ground, and as he landed, he heard a snap as he suddenly felt immense pain in his right leg.

"Ow! My leg!" Sonic yelled.

Amy and some of the others ran over to Sonic's position. Amy, of course, was the first one.

"Sonic, are you okay?" Amy asked, concerned.

"I…I think I broke my leg." Sonic told her.

Gerald had just reached Sonic.

"What's happened, bro?" Gerald asked.

Sonic told him.

"That's not good. I'm afraid you won't be able to participate in the final race." Gerald told him. "The rules say that if someone gets injured during the tournament, they're out for the rest of it. You'll have to get someone to sub in for you."

"But who's going to replace me in the race?" Sonic asked.

For a moment, nobody answered. Then…

"I'll race for him." Someone spoke up.

Everyone looked around until they saw that Amy had said it.

"I'll race for Sonic." Amy made it clearer.

"Amy, no. I won't allow it." Rector said.

"But I want to."

"No. You're not going to risk getting hurt in this tournament."

"But I…"

Sonic was tired of this argument.

"SHUT UP!" Sonic yelled.

Both Amy and Rector quieted down, believe it or not.

"Rector, go ahead and let her race. If something happens to her during the race, I'll take responsibility." Sonic told him.

Rector thought for a moment, then he gave his reply.

"Alright, I'll let her race. But you brought it upon yourself if something happens to her." Rector told him.

"Deal."

Gerald then announced the results.

"Well, Sonic, Jet, and Armand finished in the top 3, so they move on. But Sonic cannot race due to a broken leg, so Amy has taken his place. Now, meet us at Station Square Coliseum in 1 hour for the final Survival Race."

Gerald and Damien took their leave. Raine gave Sonic a healing potion that would help his leg recover more quickly. But even though that would happen, Sonic wouldn't be racing in the final race.

Everyone headed to the coliseum to see which two racers would join the other 5 in the final race.

**End of Chapter 26.**

Yes! Only one chapter to go and I'll be caught up.

Read, and you may review if you want.


	27. Space Theater: The Final Survival Battle

**(This is it. This is the last of the chapters I had to redo.)**

It's time for the final Survival Battle.

In the last chapter, Sonic, Jet, and Armand managed to get ahead of the other racers in points to earn a spot in the final race, but Sonic broke his leg and couldn't participate, so Amy offered to take his place, despite her older brother's objections.

Well, let's see which two racers join the other five in the final race.

**Chapter 27: Space Theater: The Final Survival Battle.**

It was nighttime in Station Square, yet a lot of people were out at the coliseum, and for a very good reason: The coliseum was the location of the final Survival Battle in the tournament. The coliseum stands were nearly filled. Gerald began the pre-race announcements.

"Everyone, before I go over this area's rules, let's bring out the racers that will be competing in this battle. Give it up for Zeus, Mintra, Hurricane, Velocity, Inertia, Liikumine, Emily, Alan, Vash, Cloud, Angie, and Shaun!" Gerald announced.

The 12 racers came out into the middle of the arena and received a huge amount of applause from the spectators.

"Now, let's get the arena set up. Activate the holo-projectors!"

The arena's ceiling closed and an arena came into view. It consisted of multiple panels, with most of them having electric fences on one or two sides. A large gray UFO the size of a panel came into view.

"Now, here are the rules for this arena. First of all, attacks do no damage. You have to run a racer off of the battlefield, or into one of those electric fences. Since attacks do no damage, attack power-ups will not appear. But to make up for this, guard power ups have been doubled, and power-ups are in random places in this area. Now, watch out for that UFO. If it fires a beam at a panel, that panel will turn red and fall, along with anyone who may be on that particular panel. If a panel turns blue, it is about to be moved. If you're on it, you can try to move to another one, or you may ride the panel to its new location. Don't worry, because the arena has been set up so that you will never be boxed in by electric fences. That's basically it. Now, you all have 3 hit points each, and you have 5 minutes to survive. The last two standing or the two with the most hit points remaining after 5 minutes will join the other 5 racers in the final race. With that out of the way, let's get this over with."

Gerald and Damien headed towards the announcer's booth, and the 12 racers took different starting spots in the arena.

3…2…1…

GO!

The battle began. All twelve racers hopped onto their boards and quickly sped to different areas. There was only one air pit, and it was located in the direct center. The hovering UFO began to warp around the area, looking for the first panel to crash down on.

Velocity was facing off against Zeus, Angie, and Alan in the northeast quarter of the arena. It was a free for all, and nobody seemed to have the advantage. Velocity attacked Alan, who attacked Zeus, who attacked Angie, who attacked Velocity. All four had been attacked by one another, but only one hit the electric fence, and it was Angie. Zeus had a close call, but managed to pull away from it. But Angie recovered and knocked Zeus onto a panel that had just been zapped by the UFO. The panel dropped, and Zeus couldn't get off of it in time, so he went down with it, costing him a hit point.

Meanwhile, in the southwest quadrant of the arena, Emily, Inertia, Shaun, and Hurricane were battling it out themselves. Emily and Inertia attacked each other, while Shaun and Hurricane did the same. Everyone's attacks hit, and surprisingly, all four were slammed into an electric fence, and they all lost a hit point.

In the center, Mintra, Vash, Liikumine, and Cloud were having their own free for all. Everyone attacked each other at the same time, causing them all to recoil. Mintra recovered first and hit all three racers with consecutive attacks, and as luck would have it, caused them all to slam into electric fences.

Velocity had managed to break away from the others that she was battling. She was heading for the air pit, but failed to notice that the UFO was short-circuiting, and it was coming down on the panel she was heading towards. As she crossed onto the panel, the UFO crashed, destroying the panel and causing Velocity to fall. She soon reappeared, but she had lost a hit point for falling off of the arena.

Emily and Inertia were attacking each other while trying to avoid constant attacks from Shaun, who was trying to attack Hurricane. But Hurricane led Shaun into an electric fence, and Shaun lost another hit point. If he lost one more, he would be out. He didn't have to wait long. As he went for an air refill, he was intercepted by Vash, who attacked and sent him off of the edge. Shaun had been eliminated from the battle.

"Dang. How could I be the first one out?" Shaun asked himself as he walked off, making sure not to cross any of the other racers' paths.

One had been defeated, and only 9 more had to lose before it was over. Inertia had broken away from her rivals, and was trying to reach Liikumine. However, Zeus intercepted and attacked her, causing her to run into an electric fence. Inertia was now on the verge of being defeated. She managed to reach Liikumine, but to no avail. Alan was attacking Mintra, and Inertia happened to be in Alan's way, and Alan's attack hit Inertia instead. The impact caused Inertia to run into an electric fence, and that caused her to lose her last hit point. Now only 8 racers had to be defeated.

It turns out that only 6 more would have to lose after this next bit. Liikumine and Vash were going at it, but the UFO zapped the panel they were on, and it started to fall. Both racers tried to get off, but to no avail. Both racers lost a hit point, leaving them both with one hit point each. Then, as luck would have it, Velocity attacked Vash while Emily attacked Liikumine, sending them both into electric fences. That eliminated both of them.

Only 8 racers were left. Velocity, Mintra, Zeus, Cloud, Angie, Emily, Alan, and Hurricane. Each racer by this time had lost at least one hit point. They all met in the middle and started to attack one another randomly. Velocity tried to defend herself by staying in the middle, but Angie saw this, and targeted her, hitting her with an attack, causing her to slam into an electric fence. This brought her down to one hit left. She got angry and attacked Angie, causing her to run into an electric fence, leaving her with one hit point.

Hurricane and Cloud were going at it. Both racers attacked each other, but they didn't see their panel turn blue. Before they knew it, both racers were moving on the platform. They didn't see the hole it was going to cover, and they fell down, leaving them both with one hit left.

Zeus and Alan were battling each other. Zeus attacked, but Alan moved out of the way and Zeus ran into an electric fence. Zeus didn't take too well to that, so he attacked Alan, sending him off of the edge. Now they were left with one hit point each.

This left Mintra and Emily. They both attacked each other relentlessly, both trying to get an attack on each other. But Alan attacked Mintra while Zeus attacked Emily, causing them both to lose a hit point. Everyone was now down to one hit left.

This was it. The UFO had singled them out, and shot a pulse beam at the panel. It started to crash. Smoke covered it to cause suspense as to who would win. All 8 racers started to boost off of the platform, and everyone was at the edges as it crashed. A few seconds later, a green rabbit and a yellow cheetah emerged from the smoke.

"With that little bit of suspense, Emily and Mintra are the winners!" Gerald announced.

Emily and Mintra had won. They would be moving on to the final race. Tails walked up to Cream, who was talking with her parents.

"Cream, congratulations on your dad winning the battle." Tails said.

"Aw, thanks, Tails." Cream said as she kissed him.

"Isn't that cute? I can't wait for the day you two get married." Mintra said.

"Oh, we already are." Cream told him.

"What? But you're too young." Mintra protested.

"Mayor Draco said that if it makes us happy, then let us go ahead with it. And you know we're happy together." Tails told him.

"It's true, Mintra." Vanilla told her husband.

"Well, okay, I'll allow it. But only because you two are such a cute couple." Mintra said, making them both blush a little. Off to the side, Armand was talking to Emily.

"Good job, Emily." Armand told her.

"Thanks, Armand. Listen, just because we're in love doesn't mean I'm going to hold back in tomorrow's race." Emily told him.

"I wouldn't expect anything less." Armand said as they shared a small kiss.

"Well, now that this is over, I think it's time to hand out the emeralds. Remember that the emerald you receive is your entry fee for the final race." Gerald announced.

Damien handed each racer an emerald. Amy received the blue, Mintra received the green, Jet received the gray, Galeon received the cyan, Rector received the red, and Armand received the purple emerald.

"Now, get some rest, and we'll see you all at the Sand Ruins track tomorrow." Damien said.

Gerald and Damien took their leave, and the racers retreated to Jet's airship to rest up.

**End of Chapter 27.**

YES! I've finally caught up. This story is back. Sorry the chapter wasn't as good as the original, but it doesn't matter now.

Read, and please review.


	28. Sand Ruins: The Final Race

It's time for the final race of the tournament.

In the last chapter, you all saw that Mintra and Emily outlasted everyone else to claim the final two spots in the race.

Let's wrap this tournament up.

**Note: Before I get started, I want to apologize to those that were waiting for this chapter. As you all know, the story got deleted due to apparent guideline violation, and I had to take some time editing (Chapters 1-24) and recreating (Chapters 25-27) the story. Well, now you all get to see the much anticipated final race.**

**Chapter 28: Sand Ruins: The Final Race**

It was time for the final race. This race would decide the winner, and the winner would be allowed to use the 7 emeralds and a rare wish box and make their own wish. But who would win? The stands at the coliseum were nearly jam-packed. Up at the front were heroes such as Shadow and Rouge, and standard civilians. Up in the VIP box were officials such as Princess Elise, Lord Regis, Mayor Draco, the President, and others, as well as G.U.N soldiers for security. Down in the starting block, the 7 racers were getting ready. Amy was talking to Sonic, Wave was wishing Jet good luck, Galeon was checking his board, Armand and Emily were talking, Mintra was talking to Cream and Vanilla, who were in the stands, and Rector was watching Sonic and Amy (so what else is new?). Gerald began the pre-race announcements.

"Alright, everyone, it's time for the final race of the tournament. If you all have been watching these races, you all know that today, one of these 7 racers will emerge as champion, and will get to use the Chaos Emeralds along with the wish box to make a wish of their choice. At the end of the last Survival Battle, we gave the 7 competitors one emerald each. Will those racers please hand their emerald to Damien as he comes around?"

Damien went to each competitor to collect the emeralds. Amy handed over the blue emerald, Rector handed over the red emerald, Galeon handed over the cyan emerald, Mintra handed over the green emerald, Armand handed over the purple emerald, Emily handed over the yellow emerald, and Jet handed over the gray emerald. Damien then took the emeralds over to a case that held the wish box. He then put the emeralds inside with it, and sealed the case. He then gave Gerald the signal to continue.

"Now, remember that the racer who finishes first will win not only the race, but also the tournament. Standard race rules apply, and some of the shortcuts have been blocked off to make it a fair race. Also, for this special race, the boards have been placed a few meters away from the starting line, which means that the racers will have to hop onto their boards after the race begins. Whoever gets to their board first will get an early lead. I believe that's all. Now that the announcements are over, LET'S GET THIS RACE STARTED!!!"

The crowd went wild as Gerald and Damien headed to the announcers booth to cover the race and the 7 racers got ready at the starting line.

5…4…3…2…1…

GO!

The race began as the racers dashed to their respective boards. Amy kicked her board, the Pink Rose, into the air and hopped on it. Galeon slid onto his board, the Wind Demon, as it started to hover in the air. Jet did his trademark double back-flip onto his board, the Wind Rider. Armand placed one hand on the back of his board, the Crimson Laser, and did a front-flip onto it. Emily simply jumped onto her board, the Blue Striker, as it hovered in the air. Mintra also did a back-flip onto his board, the Emerald Shooter, though he did a single back-flip. Rector did a half-front-flip onto his hands, and used them to prop himself onto his board, the Wild Thorn. The race had begun.

Galeon managed to hop onto his board first, and as such was the first race leader. In order of position behind him were Amy, Mintra, Emily, Rector, Jet, and Armand. Once they were out of the coliseum, there was a two-way split in the track. Galeon, Mintra, and Armand took the right path while Amy, Emily, and Jet took the left. But Rector noticed a large stone in the middle, and he got suspicious. He headed towards it, and punched through to find a shortcut. It was one of the ones that hadn't been blocked off. He saw a ramp at the end, and he boosted to it and launched off of it, pulling off a few tricks to regain lost air. After landing, he saw the other 6 racers coming up. They reached the upcoming ramp at almost the same time, and launched off of it, landing on a lower track.

Jet landed on the lower track first, and he boosted to try and increase the lead. But in doing so, he had created a turbulence trail for the other racers to follow. On the right was a blocked ramp that led to some flight accelerator rings. It had been blocked because it was considered too advantageous despite the fact that only one of the racers would be able to access it. There would have been a grind rail on the left, just before the first of what looked like a sand-fall, which was basically a waterfall that consisted of sand. Up ahead there were two paths, one of which went under a tall structure, and was obviously longer, but it contained 4 sets of dash panels. The other was shorter, but it contained no other advantages. Jet was leading everyone through the first sand-fall, but he didn't keep his board turning left so he could somewhat go against the flow, and he fell into the pit on the side. Unfortunately, the others were following the turbulence trail and fell in after Jet.

Well, everyone except Mintra. He did the tornado action to pull out of it, so he gained the lead as everyone else was recovering. He saw the split path, and took the left path, which was a bit longer, but it would leave him further up the sand-fall, which would allow him a greater chance at keeping out of the pit. However, before he reached the sand-fall…

"AH-CHOO!"

Jet had recovered, caught up, and sneezed on Mintra.

"What kind of racer has a sneeze for an attack?" Mintra asked.

"I'M the racer who has a sneeze for an attack." Jet retaliated.

With that, Jet took the lead as Mintra quickly recovered. He passed through the sand-fall with Amy closing in. They both saw a column fall on the left, and they saw a shortcut opportunity. They both charged up a jump, launched off of the newly-formed ramp…but Jet made it up there. Amy didn't have enough of a jump, and she fell short of it. As she regained her speed, Rector and Emily passed her and launched off of the ramp up ahead. Jet, on the top path, hit the ramp up there and landed on the upper track in the temple ruins.

The inside area had three levels. The lower level contained supports for the upper two levels, and a couple of ramps that one could use to get to the second level. The second level contained a flight accelerator ring launch pad on the right that was blocked due to being too advantageous, a path with moving platforms and a couple of egg statues in the middle, a grinding rail on the left which was also blocked off due to being too advantageous, and two ramps on the sides that led to the upper level. The upper level contained two paths and three ramps that led to an upper track containing a ledge-ramp. The lower level contained an upward slope that was disadvantageous to anyone unfortunate to have to traverse that area.

Jet, who was on the top level, hit the left ramp on the upper track leading into the temple room. Amy and Armand took the left ramp, but Armand didn't make it up there while Amy did. Rector punched his way through the power path, boosting once. Mintra and Emily took the right ramp up to the top, and both of them made it up there. Galeon followed the turbulence left by Rector to make it past the area. Amy, Rector, Galeon, and Mintra made it to the top path, while everyone else took the bottom path. After everyone was through it, Rector had taken the lead.

"Now if I can keep this lead for only two more laps." Rector said to himself.

"That won't happen, Rector." Someone said from behind him. It was Amy, his sister. He couldn't believe Amy would say that.

"You really think so?" Rector asked.

"I'm not racing for Sonic for nothing, right?" Amy asked.

They rounded a 90-degree left turn and entered a chamber with rising pillars in the middle. They had already risen to prevent any shortcuts, and the power shortcut that was located there was blocked off. Everyone sped through the upcoming hairpin turn and headed for what looked like a tower. As they entered, they were picked up by rising crossbows. Everyone knew what to do here. They used a crank to pull the string back as far as they could, and they would be launched out after approximately three seconds. Mintra and Jet were shot the highest and bounced off of a ledge in the coliseum, thus entering it. Amy, Rector, Galeon, and Emily landed just short of the entrance, and Armand didn't go that far.

"Mintra has the lead and Jet is right behind him as the second lap begins." Damien announced as Mintra passed through the coliseum. Jet, Amy, Emily, Galeon, Rector, and finally Armand went flying through the coliseum. The second lap had officially begun.

Mintra took the right path, hoping to increase his lead, but Amy and Galeon managed to catch his turbulence and also took the right path. The others took the left path. Emily boosted on the left path just after the slight turn and managed to pull ahead of Mintra as they approached the ramp. They all launched off of it, and Amy was in last because she didn't gain enough speed in the turbulence. As she launched off of the ramp, she narrowly dodged a bullet that had went straight for her head.

"What the…?" Amy wondered. She saw a brown snake on the roof of the structure between the sand-falls wearing a gray trench coat and holding a sniper rifle. Amy knew who it was.

"Alexander!?"

She quickly landed, and caught up to the others to warn them.

"Be careful everyone! Alexander the Snake just tried to snipe me from that rooftop!" Amy told everyone.

"WHAT!?" Everyone said at once.

Amy told them all to be on guard, and they agreed as they continued the race. Rector knew he couldn't blame Sonic for this incident. As they passed through the sand-falls, Amy managed to get the lead from Mintra, who was still in the lead. It wasn't long before they reached the ramp overlooking the sand pit. Nobody took the pillar ramp. Everyone landed perfectly in the next area.

Nothing had changed in the temple room, aside from some remains of the previously crushed egg statues that Rector smashed on the first lap. This time, Amy and Rector hit the right ramp, Mintra missed the left ramp and had to take the bottom path, Galeon and Emily hit the left ramp and made it up top, and Jet dodged the newly placed egg statues as he made his way down the middle. Out of all seven racers, only Emily made it to the top path near the end of the area. Everyone else hit the bottom path and had to make their way up the slope. As they reached the top, they saw Emily drop down from the upper area ahead of them. The others quickly caught up, and it wasn't long before they were on the crossbows again, ready to shoot into the coliseum.

This time, everyone managed to crank the string back far enough to launch them into the coliseum from the top. Emily landed first and crossed the start/finish line to begin the final lap.

"Emily has the lead as we enter the final lap of this exciting race! Who will win? You'll just have to watch and find out for yourselves!" Gerald announced as he saw the racers pass by them.

Emily was the first one out of the coliseum on the third lap. She led the others, who were following her turbulence trail, around the left side. On this third lap, all shortcuts had been blocked off to prevent anyone from gaining a too large advantage. She led the others to the ramp, and launched off of it, only to have Amy take the lead from her when they landed.

"Darn it. And I was doing so well." Emily told herself.

Amy had the lead when they reached the sand-falls, but she lost it after falling into the pit on the right, allowing Armand, who had also passed Emily, to take the lead.

"Finally, I'm in the lead." Armand said to himself.

"Not for long." Someone said from behind him.

At that point, Armand was attacked by a level 2 Mintra, who used his Chao Whip to wrap up Armand, then spun him to a stop, which allowed him to take the lead. Luckily, Armand stopped just short of the second sand-fall, which prevented him from falling into the pit.

"That was a little too close for my tastes!" Armand said.

Armand recovered and boosted across the sand-fall to reach the other side, where the other racers were just about to launch off of the ramp.

In the temple room, the racers couldn't access any shortcuts, so they immediately dropped off of the ledge to the lower area. At that point, the race became a test of speed and determination. They boosted up the slope, headed around the left turn, sped through the hairpin turn, and headed into the crossbow tower. The crossbows had been shut down, but an uphill path had been created that led into the desert behind the coliseum.

It was now the final stretch. This last leg of the race would decide it all. Everyone was on edge. Mintra still had the lead, but Amy quickly got ahead of him. Galeon then boosted ahead of her to gain a lead, but lost it to Armand. There was a time distance of 2 seconds between first and last, which made it a very close race. Anyone could win it at this point. As they entered the coliseum, everyone made one final boost to the finish line. At the last second, a blue streak got ahead of everyone and crossed the finish line first.

"GALEON WINS IT ALL!!!" Gerald announced.

"ALL RIGHT!!" Galeon yelled as he jumped up into the air and did a back-flip.

The crowd went wild. Thirty racers entered the competition, seven made it to the final race, and Galeon had emerged above everyone else. Damien opened the case which contained the seven emeralds and the wish box. He took out the wish box, which looked similar to Jet's crystal box, but it was a transparent red in color, and the engravings were different. Before Galeon made his wish, he passed it around to the other six racers who lost. Jet was the first one to get it, and he pulled out his crystal box.

"This looks like the crystal box I have." Jet told everyone.

"It does, but it's a different color, and the markings are different." Wave told him.

Jet passed the wish box to Armand and Emily.

"Look at it. It's nice, isn't it?" Emily asked Armand.

"I'll admit that." Armand replied.

They passed it to Mintra, who just looked at it before passing it to Rector. He wanted to make his own wish, but he knew that he didn't win, so he couldn't. He passed it to Amy, who was standing beside Sonic. They both smiled at each other. Amy let Sonic hold the wish box. Unbeknownst to them, however, someone located on the roof of the coliseum was holding a sniper rifle, and he was aiming it at Sonic's head.

"Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog." The figure said.

Amy looked away from Sonic, and she saw the glint of the rifle, and it was aiming right at Sonic.

"SONIC, LOOK OUT!" Amy yelled.

The figure fired the rifle, and Amy pushed Sonic out of the way. However, the bullet hit Amy right in the stomach. Amy fell to the ground, nearly dead.

"AMY!" Sonic yelled.

Sonic quickly reached Amy, followed by Rector, then the others. They could not believe what had just happened.

"Amy, why…why did you do that?" Sonic asked, nearly in tears.

"I…didn't want…you to…die." Amy replied, weakly. "I…love…you…"

Amy then let out her last breath and died. Sonic was beside himself. His love had just died.

"NOOOO!" Sonic yelled, but it was no use.

Rector, who had seen everything, broke down. His sister had just died. He knew he couldn't blame Sonic. At that point, the figure who killed Amy came down and stood near the wish box.

"Aw. How sssssssad. Sssssshe wasn't the one I wanted to hit." The figure said. Everyone knew that voice at once.

"Alexander?" Armand said, surprised.

"That'sssss right. I fired the rifle and killed Amy. That's not the only thing I did. I sabotaged the electric gate during the preliminaries. I poisoned Team Legendary. I sabotaged Armand's board and trapped him in the temple underground. I sabotaged the Babylon Garden combat fighter, AND I caused the spirit hand in that dimension to go out of control." Alexander told them all.

"You…you monster!" Jet yelled.

"And now, it's time for you all to die."

Alexander pulled out a huge laser and aimed it at the racers. He charged it up, and was about to fire when a beam came out of nowhere and knocked the laser weapon out of his hands.

"Not while I'm around, you imposssssster!" Someone said from the side. Everyone looked over in that direction to see…

"Alexander?" Mintra asked.

Nobody could believe it. There were two Alexanders.

"Which one is the real one?" Sonic asked.

The Alexander that knocked the laser out of the other's hands fired a bullet, which hit the one that killed Amy. All of a sudden, that Alexander started to short-circuit.

"Wait a minute! That's not Alexander! That's…"

The snake camo turned off, revealing a large flying robot. The cockpit opened to reveal a face some of the heroes knew all too well.

"Eggman-Nega!" Sonic said, surprised.

**End of Chapter 28.**

Eggman-Nega was the one responsible for everything! On top of that, he killed Amy. What will everyone do? What will happen next? Find out in the next chapter.

You all remember that Wipeout story, right? Well, I've lost interest in that story, so it's going down. Sorry, everyone.

Well, Read and Review.


	29. Battle for a Loved One

Ready for the next chapter?

In the last chapter, Galeon managed to emerge above the competition, but the glory was short-lived as Alexander fired a bullet at Sonic. Amy pushed Sonic out of the way, only to have the bullet hit her instead. Amy died not long after. Alexander then pulled out a large laser and was about to fire it and kill the others, but a bullet knocked the weapon away. Another Alexander had appeared, and the one that killed Amy was shot by a bullet that knocked out the camo, revealing Eggman Nega as the true villain.

Will Sonic be able to avenge the one he loved? Find out in this chapter.

**Chapter 29: Battle for a Loved One.**

Amy had been killed by Eggman Nega, who was posing as Alexander until the real one disabled the camo. Eggman Nega now sat in the cockpit of a large black-and-yellow flying robot that looked like the Ultimate Mecha except that it had robotic legs instead of the tail (See Sonic Rush: New Version for more), and its right arm held a cannon while the left one was a claw. The robot was hovering in the air as everyone looked on.

"That little death I handed that pink hedgehog was retaliation for my defeats." Nega told them.

"Shut up! I thought you were back in your own dimension!" Sonic yelled.

"Oh, right. I activated a dimensional teleporter that allowed me to return to this dimension." Nega explained. "And as for how I was able to take that disguise: Well, I simply added a form compressor to this robot."

"Very clever." Alexander said.

Rector whispered to Galeon, who nodded. Galeon held up the wish box, only to find that he didn't have it. On top of that, Eggman Nega had disappeared.

"Where's the wish box?" Galeon asked.

"Oh my. Looking for this?" Someone said from behind them. They turned around to see Eggman Nega holding the wish box in the robot's hand. He tossed it to the side, seeing as how he didn't need it.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off. But first…"

Eggman Nega then activated a yellow energy field which surrounded the group. Everyone inside it started to feel weak.

"What's…happening?" Emily asked.

"Some…kind of…energy field. It's…draining our power." Armand told them.

The energy field started to compress, suffocating the heroes. Sonic was about to die when he saw the Chaos Emeralds nearby.

"Hang on…guys." Sonic said as he crawled to the emeralds. He reached them and started to harness their power. Soon the energy field was destroyed, and Sonic had turned into Super Sonic. Eggman Nega couldn't believe it.

"Super Sonic? Why you little…" Nega began, then he stopped himself. "It doesn't matter. I'll just kill you first. But this place is too narrow. I can't unleash my full power here. Follow me if you dare, Sonic."

Nega then flew off. Sonic was about to chase after her, but then remembered Amy. He turned to Tails.

"Tails, take care of Amy." Sonic told him.

"Right." Tails replied.

"You better not die, or I'll drag you back from the dead and kill you again." Rector warned him.

"I won't."

Sonic then blasted off. Rector just looked on as the golden hero chased Nega.

"Good luck, Sonic." Rector said to himself. He then turned to Galeon.

"Can't we use the wish box to revive Amy?" Rector asked.

"Yes, but if there's anyone who should do it, it's Sonic." Galeon told him.

Up above the sand pit, Nega had stopped, waiting for Sonic to catch up. He didn't have to wait long. The golden hero quickly slowed down to a stop in front of him.

"Now you're going to pay for killing Amy." Sonic vowed.

"Well, such bravado for such a hedgehog. You may be super, but this Grand Mecha is much more improved over the other one. You may have a chance if you just back down." Nega offered.

"And let you destroy the planet? Not a chance." Sonic said.

"Well, I tried." Nega said to himself.

Nega then charged up a blast from one of the robot's cannons. It looked like a beam of some sort, but when it was fired, it came out as a sphere of energy. Nega launched it at Sonic.

"How's this for an attack?" Nega asked as the sphere headed towards Sonic, who was charging up a ball of yellow energy.

"SUPER SONIC WIND!" Sonic called out his move.

He threw the attack at Nega's sphere of energy, and the two attacks collided. It was now a reverse tug-of-war. Nega had the advantage, and Sonic started to lose ground. Soon Sonic's attack was shot back at him, and it hit full force. Sonic felt the immense pain of his own attack.

"Whoa! Now I know just how powerful my attack is." Sonic said to himself.

Nega took that time to hit Sonic with one of the robot's arms. He then formed an energy blade and slashed Sonic with it. Sonic was sent flying backwards, and Nega followed. Now that he had Sonic on the run, he wasn't going to let this advantage get away. He grabbed Sonic with one of the claws and tossed him away, then blasted him with a beam of energy from the cannon. Sonic couldn't believe it. He was Super Sonic, one of the best heroes ever, and he was getting beaten. He wasn't going to stand for that.

Nega charged up a large ball of energy from his cannon and launched it at Sonic, but he managed to grab the energy ball and hold it back. He charged up some energy and unleashed a flurry of kicks on the ball, sending it back. Nega just discharged the ball with a blast of his own.

"How pathetic. You put up a better fight when you first stopped me from destroying the world. Now look at you." Nega taunted. "You don't have the will to fight because your girlfriend is dead."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Sonic yelled.

Sonic couldn't take anymore of Nega's taunts. He charged up one of his best moves.

"Remember this attack? SPEED BREAKER!"

Sonic shot towards Nega at speeds higher than anyone could measure. The attack hit Nega's robot full force, and left a dent in the armor.

"So you do have some fight left in you. No matter. You'll die soon enough."

Nega then used the claw to grab Sonic and start crushing him. Sonic tried to break free, but the robot's grip was too strong. Sonic felt himself losing his strength and life force.

"Is…this…the end?" Sonic asked.

"_Sonic, don't give up!"_ Someone said. Sonic knew the voice.

"A…Amy?" Sonic asked. "Where are you?"

"_I'm standing with the members of the Council of Death. They saw what was going on and allowed me to talk to you through them. They thought it would help if I gave you some support."_ Amy's voice said.

"Thanks, Amy."

"_Now show him who he's messing with!"_ Amy's voice said. _"I love you."_

Using his newfound strength, and Amy's encouragement, Sonic managed to break free of the robot's grasp.

"What? How did you gain that much power?" Nega asked.

"Because Amy's with me, whether she's dead or not." Sonic told him. "Now it's time for YOU to feel the pain!"

Sonic immediately went on the offensive. He charged up two Super Sonic Winds in his hands.

"SUPER SONIC WIND!" Sonic called out as he launched one. Nega raised the robot's arm to block the attack.

"DOUBLE!" Sonic called out.

Nega was confused. How could Super Sonic create two of the same attack? He blocked the first one, but didn't have the time to react to the second one as it hit full force. Nega felt the robot get blasted.

"So you've managed to get an attack off. It doesn't matter. I'll still kill you. Then the world will fall to ruins. Then I'll use the emerald's power to recreate the world, with me as its ruler."

Nega charged up a large beam of energy and launched it at the golden hero. Super Sonic just charged up a yellow beam of his own and launched it. The two attacks collided, and another reverse tug-of-war occurred. They both pushed their attacks to the point of explosion, but Sonic started to lose the battle. He felt his attack being pushed back.

"Mwa ha ha ha! It's over, hero. Only the emeralds have the power to weaken this machine." Nega declared.

Sonic started to give up when a red beam of energy hit the Grand Mecha.

"What the…?"

Rector, Howl, and Raine were holding the red emerald, which was firing the beam.

"If the emeralds weaken the machine, then I suppose this would be one of them." Rector called out.

Then gray, green, and yellow beams of energy hit the robot. Velocity, Inertia, and Liikumine were holding the gray emerald. Mintra, Zeus, and Hurricane were holding the green emerald. Emily, Alan, and Vash were holding the yellow emerald.

"No. If this keeps up, the machine will deactivate."

At that point, a purple beam of energy and a blue beam of energy hit the robot. Armand, Basil, and Axel were holding the purple emerald. Cloud, Angie, and Shaun were holding the blue emerald.

"Ha ha. There are only six emeralds. How can you stop me when you don't have the seventh emerald?" Nega asked. "Also, that crystal box can't do anything."

"We'll see about that!" Someone said. Then a blue-green beam hit the robot, weakening it further, but not to the extent that the emeralds could. Jet, Wave, and Storm were holding the crystal box.

"It still doesn't matter. You still can't kill me because you don't have the last emerald." Nega declared.

"Who ssssayssss we don't have the lassssst emerald?" Someone hissed. Then a cyan beam of energy hit the robot. Alexander, Charlie, and Domino were holding the cyan emerald.

"What!? N…No. Impossible!"

All seven emeralds and the crystal box were weakening the Grand Mecha. The robot couldn't take this much power. Then a light-red beam of energy came from somewhere and hit the robot. Galeon, Nightscream, and Rampage were holding the wish box. Because the wish box was powered by the emeralds, it had similar properties.

"This…can't be!"

Sonic couldn't believe it. Everyone was helping him defeat Nega. He saw his chance.

"SONIC! NOW!" Everyone called at once.

"Nega, it's time to say goodbye." Sonic said.

"What? N…No!"

"SUPER SONIC ASSAULT!"

Super Sonic went into a frenzy of attacks. He bashed the robot from one side to another to another. He was crossing the robot at nearly every point on the robot, while the beams of energy kept it from moving. Then he charged up a large wave of yellow energy in his hands and unleashed it. The resulting impact obliterated the Grand Mecha. Nega quickly hit a button at the last second and the remains, as well as Nega himself, went through a portal back to his dimension.

"I'LL BE BACK! JUST YOU WAIT!" Nega declared as the portal closed.

"Next time, just stay in your dimension." Sonic said as the portal closed.

Everyone cheered as Sonic returned to his normal blue color and landed on the nearby ground. Nega had been defeated once again.

**End of Chapter 29.**

With the help of nearly every participant in the tournament, Sonic handed Nega his third defeat (well, if you don't count those losses he had in the past, before Sonic and them became the heroes everyone knows). Now the tournament can be finished with the awards ceremony. But what will Sonic do about Amy? Find out in the next chapter.

Well, Read and Review.


	30. Yet Another Happy Ending

This is it. The final chapter of this story.

I won't keep you all waiting any longer. It's time to see how this story ends.

**Chapter 30: Yet Another Happy Ending.**

Sonic had just defeated Eggman Nega as Super Sonic, thanks to the help of most of the participants in the tournament. Using the Chaos Emeralds, Jet's crystal box, and the wish box, they weakened Nega's Grand Mecha to the point where Super Sonic could destroy it. Nega managed to open a portal back to his dimension before he could be killed, and he left while declaring that he would return.

The heroes returned to the coliseum, where Tails and Knuckles were watching over Amy's lifeless body. Sonic quickly ran up to them and crouched down near Amy's body.

"Amy, please come back. Please." Sonic pleaded, even though he knew it was no use. Galeon looked at the wish box, then he remembered what he was going to do. He walked up to Sonic.

"Sonic, I want you to make the wish." Galeon said.

Sonic was surprised at this.

"But you won. You deserve the wish." Sonic began to decline, but Galeon cut him off.

"Listen. A lot of people believe that there's nothing better than the life of a loved one. Most of us believe that. And if this wish box can revive Amy, I think you should be the one to do so." Galeon explained.

Sonic couldn't believe it. Galeon was giving up his wish so that Amy could return to the world of the living. He took the wish box and looked at Amy.

"I…wish to revive Amy." Sonic said to the wish box.

**Council of Death's chamber, the gateway to heaven and hell…**

The five members of the Council of Death were watching everything through a large spherical monitor. Amy looked on as well.

"Are they really going to revive me?" Amy asked.

"I would think so." Anubis, the Egyptian god of death, replied. "And who better to revive you than your own love."

"Anubis is right. You should be one lucky girl." The Japanese god of death, Yama, told her.

"I know. Thanks for allowing me to support Sonic during his battle." Amy told the Devil, the leader of the five.

"It was our pleasure. After all, we can't just stand by and allow a hero to be killed if someone here can give that hero encouragement." The Devil said.

At that point, a bright light surrounded Amy.

"They're doing it. Good bye." Amy told them.

"Live life to the fullest." Hades, the Greek god of death, told her.

Amy nodded as she disappeared, passing through the gateway from the chamber to the world.

"You know, I see great potential in that girl." Someone said. It was the Grim Reaper.

"So, you finally return?" Anubis asked.

"Yeah. Eggman Nega was not killed, just sent back to his dimension." The Grim Reaper replied.

"He'll die eventually. Then he'll pay for all of the evil he's done." The Devil said.

**At the coliseum…**

A light glowed around Amy's body as the emeralds supplied power to the wish box. When the light faded, Amy was standing upright as if she had never died. She quickly hugged Sonic.

"Sonic, thank you." Amy said.

Everyone in the coliseum cheered at the revival. Rector walked over to Sonic and Amy.

"Amy, do me a favor and don't ever do that again." Rector told her, but not in the way he would have talked to Sonic.

"I won't, Rector." Amy told him.

Amy then gave Rector a brother/sister hug, which Rector returned. After they broke, Rector backed away. Sonic turned to Amy.

"Amy, there's something I want to ask you."

"What is it, Sonic?" Amy asked.

"Amy, we've been through a lot together. I realized that we never would have gotten through it if we weren't there for each other." Sonic said. Amy didn't notice Sonic pulling out something from behind his back. Nor did she notice Sonic getting down on one knee. "Will you…marry me?"

That one question took Amy by shock. Sonic had actually proposed to her, the one thing she thought he would never do. Amy would have said yes right then and there, but she remembered Rector. Would he accept? She looked at her older brother, waiting for the obvious 'no' reply.

Rector just smiled and nodded. Smiling, she turned to Sonic.

"Yes. I will." Amy said as she kissed Sonic.

The whole crowd at the coliseum raised a louder cheer than before. A lot of the racers couldn't believe it. Not at Sonic proposing to Amy, but the fact that Rector had actually allowed such a thing.

"Wait a minute. You allowed this, Rector?" Armand asked.

"Yeah. Sonic asked me if he could ask Amy to marry him. At first, I said no, but then I remembered that it was Amy's dream, and I didn't want Amy's dream to be crushed, so I allowed it." Rector explained.

It was time for the award ceremony for the tournament.

"And now, let's hand out the trophies and medals. Medals go to the four racers that tried their hardest in the competition, and the trophies go to the top three. The medals will go to, from 7th to 4th, Armand, Emily, Mintra, and Rector." Gerald announced.

Damien handed out the medals to the four racers that had just been called. Then he picked up the bronze trophy.

"The bronze trophy, for third place, goes to Amy Rose."

Damien picked up the bronze trophy and handed it to Amy. She was happy. Not only did she win a trophy; she also was engaged to Sonic.

"The silver trophy, for finishing in second, will go to Jet the Hawk."

Damien handed the silver trophy to Jet, who accepted it, much to the surprise of Sonic. Jet usually wouldn't settle for anything but first place. Jet had told Sonic that as long as there are future tournaments, he didn't care. He also told Sonic that if he (Jet) won, he wouldn't have anything to look forward to in the next one.

"And the gold trophy, for surpassing the competition and winning the final race, goes to Galeon the Blue Jay."

Damien handed the gold trophy to Galeon, who held it up in the air with pride as everyone cheered. Galeon, Jet, and Amy jumped down from the podium and rejoined their friends.

**About 1 hour later…**

It was time for everyone to go their separate ways.

"Do you guys really have to go?" Jet asked Galeon.

"Yeah. Besides, we're not ones to hang around long. We just came because we had heard about this tournament." Galeon explained.

"Alright." Jet said, then turned to Cloud. "You be careful out there, Cloud."

"I will. I also have Shaun and Angie to help me." Cloud replied.

Team Music then left, along with Rampage and Nightscream, but Galeon stayed a bit longer.

"Hey, before I go, I want to say something." Galeon said to Jet.

"What is it?"

"Good luck with Wave."

Jet nodded, then Galeon caught up to the rest of Team Dynamic.

"Hey, guys, wait up!" Galeon called as he followed them.

Teams Velocity and Star were about to leave.

"Emily, are you really staying?" Alan asked.

"Yes. But don't worry, we'll see each other again." Emily told her friends.

"Good luck to you and Armand." Vash said.

"Thanks."

Vash and Alan then left, leaving Team Velocity with Team Berserker.

"You guys put up a good race." Velocity said.

"Thanks. Sorry your team didn't make it to the main tournament." Basil replied.

Velocity just smiled. Knuckles, over to the side, noticed.

"I guess we better be leaving." Inertia told her friends.

"Right. We'll see you all later."

Velocity and her team left on their boards. Basil just looked at Velocity as she left. There was something about the way she smiled that just…reached out to him. Knuckles noticed, however.

"I think Basil may have a crush on Velocity." Knuckles started.

"What? I…I do not." Basil protested while blushing a little.

"Sensors indicate Basil's temperature is rising. Are you okay, Basil?" Omega asked.

Armand walked over to them, seeing what was going on. He had turned his attention away for a few seconds.

"Alright, knock it off. Basil, don't worry. If you like her, that's okay. I was the same way with Emily." Armand told his friend.

"Thanks, buddy."

Sonic called everyone over.

"So, what do we do now?" Sonic asked.

"I guess we return to Station Square." Tails replied.

"Hold on, guys." Someone said from behind them. It was Alexander.

"I want to apologize for everything Eggman Nega did while posing as me. He had knocked me out and scanned my body to create that body he used. I really was planning on entering, but I had no idea it would turn out this way." Alexander said to everyone who was around.

"Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault." Raine told him.

"Just keep your guard up next time." Storm said.

"I will." Alexander said, then he, Domino, and Charlie left on their boards.

"Storm gave someone advice? That's new." Knuckles said.

"You want to go at it, red mutt?" Storm challenged.

"Did you say RED MUTT!?"

Knuckles and Storm were about to go at it, when Sonic and Jet intervened.

"We don't need a fight at a time like this." Jet told them both.

"And you two need to control your anger." Sonic added.

Both of them calmed down, but it was obvious that Knuckles wouldn't let that little comment about him slide.

"Now, let's go home." Sonic said.

Everyone hopped on their boards and left the coliseum. The future looked bright as the sun started to go down in the horizon.

**End of Story.**

The tournament is over, with Galeon as the victor. Sonic proposed to Amy, which she accepted after Rector surprisingly allowed it. And the future looked bright for our heroes.

Where's the wedding? That's not happening yet. That's a plot point for Sonic Rush Adventure. You'll have to wait to find out.

YES! This story is finally completed. After a long time, I can't believe it!

Read and give your final review.


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